Songbird Academy: The Pretty Dead One
by Savvy the Hunter of Artemis
Summary: SEQUEL TO SONGBIRD ACADEMY THE GORGEOUS ONE! Young, dead and pretty. It seems to be a waste or some pathetic sob story you hear online or a moral story by your mother. Whoever told you dying young and pretty is something to be sad about is wrong. When you're pretty, people pay attention to you. When you die young, you'll be remaining mystery; forever and always.
1. Our Former Selves

**Big Note: DO NOT READ THIS STORY UNLESS YOU READ THE FIRST STORY OF The SA (Songbird Academy) stories.**

Chapter 1

Our former selves

_Two year ago…_

A drunk, fourteen year old Piper stumbled out of the bar as she threw her phone onto the floor. The text message from her father had stirred up all the hatred in her empty heart. Maybe it was the angry feeling of abandonment from her mother, the emptiness in the hole in her heart her father has stabbed into and maybe it was the fury she felt from Jane, for driving her father further away from her.

She just drowned two bars of Bacardi and she did _not _feel good.

She ordered another drink from the bartender, "Piper, stop drinking," Mellie warned as she slumped in her seat. "I'm supposed to take care of you, you're not even supposed to be-"

"Drinking in an underage experience experiment," Piper grumbled her usual response. She had a headache, but she didn't care. Mellie had just told her that her father couldn't make it to their surfing day in Venice Beach and she was just drinking her feelings away. Mellie was her babysitter, before she became Mr. Mclean official assistant she always try her best to keep Piper in line. Ever since they move back to L.A from Philadelphia, Mr. Mclean was drifting away from his own daughter- breaking out his stardom and doing big shot movies and Piper had been mixing with the bad crowds at her school_s. _

Mellie had seen lots of wash-up teen stars (cough Lohan cough Cyrus coughs), Piper wasn't famous but she was still a little rusty from her troubles but Mellie knew Piper had potential to quit the cocaine and Patron to go back to the American Girl next door she first saw when she just arrived back in L.A.

"I'm bored," Piper sighed, she got off the bar stool and stumbled out with the help of Mellie keeping her steady. The got onto the lively street of Rodeo Drive as Mellie tried her best to ushered Piper into the fancy black limousine back home, where Piper would down a glass of Ginger Ale, sober up and then they could watch some sappy movies and make fun of them.

"Piper, come on," Mellie said through gritted teeth as she lift Piper up, "A few more blocks…"

"Screw it," Piper marched away from Mellie, shoving away Mellie's attempt to help her into a car. She went up to a random guy at the street; he was handsome in a typical Hollywood way. Disheveled blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a body that should be on the cover of _Men Weekly,_ he leaned on his shiny, silver Lexus and smiled at Piper when he saw her marching towards him.

Piper was wearing a ripped Abercrombie top, some jeans and ripped converse and still look like a rugged, cute model on the streets. The boy was like eighteen and Mellie huffed, this couldn't be one of Piper's wanna-hook-up-then-ditch-them tricks. She walked out to the guy and smiled at him, amazingly well for a girl who was smashing her phone and drinking twenty shots of tequila. "Hello," She smiled softly; she brushed her hair off her shoulders. "Shouldn't you be penalizing for being so cute?"

"Smooth," The man grinned, "You want to go get a drink?"

Piper leaned over, her hands smooth down the boy toned body and Mellie wrinkled her nose, the smell of his Calvin Klein aftershave was so strong it was repulsive. "Sure, get the reservations," He nodded and Mellie knew that inside his head he was probably thinking, _I wonder if she wants to skip drinks and get a hotel room…_

"Guess what I got," Piper grinned, she held up a silver glinting key attached to a black car key. "His Lexus,"

"Piper," Mellie made a snatch for the key, "Not this time,"

"God, Mellie leave me alone," Piper unlocked the car, climbed it and then drove off before Mellie could've stopped her. Before Mellie knew it, she had to call Mr. Mclean to get Piper from the police station and then the huge argument- then a ship off to Songbird Academy.

* * *

"Maybe you should get out of the apartment," Aphrodite nagged her turning-seventeen daughter as she slumped into the couch. Aphrodite was dressed in a striped sailor summer dress along with high sling back wedges and dark red lips. "And you need to start shopping; your dad won't answer any of my calls to ship your clothes and stuff here, so the clothes you have are limited,"

"Whatever, I can still wear the same clothes," Piper chewed on her bowl of cheese nachos with chopped green capsicum and tomato vinaigrette.

''Or Silena can take you out to shop, along with a new haircut for the Hamptons trip next week for your birthday," Aphrodite pointed out to the Piper's messy, thick dark layered hair. "And a spa, and maybe some sharpening around the eyebrows-"

"Okay, I'll go," Piper sighed, "How's Jennifer? You're not turning her into a life size, baby Barbie Doll are you?"

"No," Aphrodite shook her head then she saw Piper's raised eyebrows and then surrendered, "Fine, we're having Breakfast at Tiffany's then we're having manicure at Bendel,"

"Wow," Piper took her brown, cotton jumper from the couch corner and put it on, "Silena, shopping!" She yelled at the stairs of their penthouse.

Silena popped down, her hair was styled in loopy curls, and her eyes were azure blue, she wore a tight wrap around skirt and a halter top. Her makeup was perfectly brushed, hot vibrant pink lipstick and subtle eyeliner. "Shopping, finally," Silena snorted. "Get changed into something nice,"

She showed off her Billabong blue top, ripped skinny jeans and pointed at her converse shoes, "This is nice," Then Silena's expression, Piper just rolled her eyes in defeat and changed into something more appropriate for New York, she came back dressed in a knotted black shirt, a white tank top and a pair of jean shorts with suede brown boots. "Better?"

"Perfect!" Silena squealed, "Let's go!"

* * *

_Three years ago…_

Fourteen year old Annabeth Chase was standing in her new house at San Francisco; her blonde hair framing her small natural face and her grey eyes flashing fiercely, her expression was a crossover of a smile and an expression that says ready to kill. Her father, Fredrick Chase, came, smiling at her like nothing ever happen. He places a reassuring hand on her shoulder, looking at their house. "Isn't this great, Annabeth?"

"Stop scamming your way of what you did," Annabeth stormed angrily at him, she slapped his hand off her shoulder and her eyes flashed even brighter than before.

She stomped her way up the porch to climb the outside stairs and into the house, Bobby and Matthew was already setting up their gaming consoles and playing away and Helen was already finished with unpacking her kitchen utensils.

"Annabeth," Her father called as she made her way up on her new stairs. "Please, can we just talk?"

"No," Annabeth shot poisonously at the bottom of the stairs and then disappeared in a cloud of anger.

"What happen?" Helen asked as she cleaned off the flour off her fingers. "Another fight?"

"It's just on San Fran," Annabeth's father said, his breathing was paling. "You know after the whole injury and Jennifer…"

Helen nodded, "I get it, teenage girl blues- she'll calm down," Helen went back to folding up the kitchen clothes and putting her cooking utensils in the right place.

"I'll go talk to her," Fredrick smiled sweetly at his wife.

She returned the smile and then pecked her husband on his cheek, "Wish you luck," Fredrick climbed up the simple stairs, it was simple ash wood and cream carpeting. Upstairs was simple, still loaded with some boxes and wrapped furniture in paper wrapping.

He knocked on a newly painted door, Annabeth opened in and her face was angry and angst as usual. Red earphones hung loosely around her neck, the jean shorts were changed with long jeans and her silver owl top was changed into a long sleeved white shirt. "What do you want?" She spat out meanly.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to kiss Lily," Fredrick apologized, he remember the shock and anger on Annabeth's face when she walked in on him kissing one of his students in his class.

"Is that what's her name?" Annabeth scowled. "Look, Helen and I might not get along but I won't let you treat her the way you treat mom," She slammed the door shut harder than needed to.

Annabeth's dad sighed; girls can be difficult. Especially when they know a secret.

* * *

"Promise you'll behave?" Helen asked as they settled down at the restaurant, she eyed the boys as if they were target for tomorrow's dinner.

"It's okay, I'll make sure they behave," Annabeth reassured Helen as Annabeth fluffed out the napkin and put it on her lap, she glared at Matthew and Bobby to make her point and smiled at Helen. Helen's dark hair and pretty light Asian features were beautiful; it made Annabeth wants to dye her hair into a dark color and made Annabeth whack her father on the head for cheating on Helen with a much younger girl.

"Good, this dinner means a lot to your dinner so you won't mess this up," Helen tucked in the wrinkle from her nice pleated blouse.

"Even if dad's new girlfriend is a tramp?" Bobby grumbled his dark, young eyes angry and furious. The news about Annabeth's father's affair had hit him the hardest; it would be pretty shocking to find out your dad cheated on your mother with a younger woman.

"Bobby!" Helen hissed, her expressions scandalized that her fourteen year old son was already mouthing off.

"Well, at least he didn't say bi-" Matt started to say but then Annabeth stepped on his foot.

"Okay, Helen, I'll handle this," Annabeth covered Matt's swearing phase with a nice smile.

"Good, listen to your sister boys," Helen warned the boys, she shouldered her bag and then went off.

Matthew and Bobby nodded in unison; Annabeth rolled her eyes at the thought of Bobby and Matthew doing anything right.

"Okay, you two please don't say anything bad or equally nasty," Annabeth brushed out the spare loose blonde spiraling curls out of her face. Her face was air brushed with the lack use of makeup; she wore cool ice blue eyeliner around her eyes- making her grey eyes more vivid and simple nude gloss. She wore a sheer button down vest top with a white tank inside and a pair of jeans.

"Whatever just get the damn dinner over with," Matthew groaned in virtual torture. Annabeth kept her eyes focused on the glass doors of the fancy restaurant and a young blond woman with a beautiful Patrician face- she could've been Annabeth's older sister. Her eyes were blue and icy, her hair was blonde and straight, her posture was thin and straight. Her red lips were pouty and large, Annabeth felt like she as looking at a younger, blonde version of Jennifer's mother Judy.

A man in his late forties, with salt and pepper hair, kind brown eyes and a handsome smile stepped into the restaurant and place his hands around the blonde woman's thin waist. "God, she's young enough to be my sister," Bobby wrinkled his nose.

"Guys, behave," Annabeth gritted her teeth, keeping heaps of effort with her forced smile. The girl was the same college student Annabeth saw him with, it just seem so long ago when she and Jennifer saw them.

"Hi," Lily perked as Fredrick and Lily neared the table Annabeth's table, "You guys must be Annabeth, Bobby and Matthew, right?" Her doe blue eyes were so innocent, her smile so clean and innocent. It was like she wasn't the devil horned witch Annabeth had picture her to be, the girl who stole Annabeth's stepmother right out of her father's hands. She might not like Helen, but she sure as hell like Helen more that this blonde, doe-eyed witch right in front of her.

Annabeth cut Bobby and Matthew short quickly, "Hi!" Annabeth stood up from her seat; she shook Lily's cold hand. "I'm Annabeth,"

"Oh I remember you were one of the girls who were friends with Jennifer Brown, right?" Something in Lily's blue eyes sparkled with slight cold mischief.

"Um," A bead of sweat trickled down her father's forehead, "How about we get to know each other? Lily could get to know you guys and I'll order up," Annabeth noticed her father's sudden change of emotion. She tried to study his eyes, but they weren't meeting hers.

It's like he had something to hide and she wondered what.

* * *

_Two years ago…_

"I still can't believe that they move right after their daughter's disappearance," Reyna's mother's clucked her tongue in disapproval. Reyna rolled her eyes at her mother behind the newspaper her mother was reading. She took a bite of her apple and saw Hylla coming into the kitchen/dinner room with shopping bags filled in her hands.

"Mom," Hylla greeted with warm, she kissed Reyna's mom on the cheek and dumped the shopping bags on the kitchen island. "Reyna," Hylla's cold brown eyes zoned in on her, Reyna glared back- her same piercing stare was equally scary.

"Nice to see you, sister," Reyna took a hard bite out of her apple. "Shopping so much?"

"I need some clothes for my college opening," Hylla's skeleton smile was charming, she took out an expensive Vera Wang purple top and shimmy it. "What are you reading there?"

"Just some news about the Jennifer girl- Reyna friend, disappearance and how her parents just move off, how irresponsible," Reyna's mother snorted- in a very unladylike way, her stern face was calculating and mirrored Reyna's when Reyna was in her disapproving phase.

"Whatever, I just think that the Jennifer girl is finally gone for good," Hylla said in a very snobby way. She wrinkled her nose and Reyna raised an eyebrow. She felt like she needed to defend Jennifer, sure Jennifer could be mean, vicious, barbaric and manipulative but she was a better friend than Hylla ever was as a sister.

"Well, at least Jennifer was prettier than you," Reyna mumbled under her breath, but unlike everything Hylla heard that so she shot Reyna a poison glare.

"Whatever, I just think that the town could do better without her," Hylla pursed her lips together and eyes blank.

"Excuse me?" Reyna scoffed, nearly spitting out the chewed apple in her mouth.

"Oh the town adored her," Her mother pitched in, her dark eyes were not warm. "Now the Whites are gone, the Browns can shine," Hylla's eyes sparkled. Reyna noticed the rare exchange between her mother and Hylla, what was going on here?

* * *

"Hi, is this Boston Adoption?" Reyna whispered softly in the phone intercom as she glance back to see if anyone was trying to peek at what she was doing. Her black velvet dress had laced her thin posture nicely, she was at the Solace's home in Sonoma and they were hosting a large celebration dinner and she was forced to wear her best. The black velvet lace dress was a shift dress and sequined squared neckline with a black diamond necklace and black diamond earrings with strappy heels.

"Yes, how may we help you?" The lady spoke into phone.

"Um, have you heard of Regina Brown?" Reyna was hiding in the living room; the dark, oak beautiful furniture was almost like monsters.

"Regina Brown…?" The lady's tone was clipped, short and stern. A few sounds of typing on a keyboard were heard then the lady was back, "Um, there's no information about Regina Brown, can you be more specific?"

"She was born about seventeen or sixteen years ago, she has dark hair and dark eyes, can you please search it up and call me tomorrow with information?"

"Of course," She switched off her phone and places it in her purple velvet Zac Posen purse. She let her dark hair out of her fishtail braid and then she walked back into the kitchen.

"Reyna, finally," Her mother's bony body structure fitted her loose white Stella McCartney tunic Greek dress, her mother's cold brown eyes were cruel and unwarming but Reyna was already use to it. Hylla was bragging to Will Solace, who was yawning in tiresome chatter, she was dressed in a baby blue chiffon sheer halter top with a black leather skirt and lacquer pumps. "Where have you been?"

"Taking a call," Reyna replied, she sat down on the embroidered burgundy chair.

"You missed the part when Hylla was explaining about her college achievements," Her mother scolded, she took a sip of her wine with her purple colored lacing fingers.

"Oh pity," Reyna drawled in sarcasm. They were all sitting on the silk clothed table with brilliant food laid out in front of them; silky raspberry cream with yummy pastry apple pie, roasted ham with chopped, golden sweet pineapples, along with green capsicums, then there was spring summertime salad with fried prawns and calamari and then a clam chowder.

Reyna was chewing on her fried prawns and her salad. "Anyway, any thoughts on college, William?" Hylla's mother asked as she cut her ham perfectly.

"Dartmouth," William said with his mouth full. "How about you Reyna?"

"Stanford," Reyna answered automatically, her parent's eyes zoned in on her and her father's eyes twitched.

"Stanford? I thought you wanted Harvard," Hylla stabbed her pineapples and chewed hard as if she was angry. "Maybe you aren't good enough for Harvard,"

Reyna resisted the urge to threw her fork into Hylla's eye, "I just wanted to do politics instead,"

"Politics?" Her mother scoffed in surprise, her face blanched in mockery. She glanced at her father, who was quiet as a mouse. "Please, you need to be more like Hylla with business, to carry on the White's business,"

"But I don't want Harvard,"

"Fine, Princeton," Her mother snapped, for a minute she almost turns into an ugly witch, "And it's final," Reyna tried not to hit something or slam into something, she hated this family. It's why she was trying to find her real one.

* * *

**Sorry for the amazing long wait for the sequel, this is my longest chapter ever. What do you think? Don't own anything and remember: Reviews = Updates.**

**Wink, **

**-Savvy.**


	2. Friends?

Chapter 2

Friends?

"Wow, it's still the same," Piper marveled at the gigantic building right in front of her, she took out her brand new aviator glasses and her beautiful multicolored eyes flashed into a warm shade of emerald and hazel. Her new hair makeover was amazing, she highlighted her dark hair with dark red auburn streaks and the choppy, long, waist-height straight had disappeared into mid-back, flowing tousled curls. Silena had bought her tons of cool vintage clothes, that was much different- stylish yet sort of not girly at the same time.

She wore an olive button down denim sleeve-rolled up with a pair of black skinny jeans, a chain of coral and shell necklace with eagle feather earrings and grungy suede boots. "Oh my gosh," Aphrodite hugged her youngest daughter tight "I can't believe my baby girl is already in eleventh grade!"

"Mom…" Piper groaned as she felt the air left her lungs as her mother crushed her in a bear hug, "I thought Jennifer was your baby girl…"

"Right," Aphrodite squealed, she reached into the limo to unlock the baby seat belt for Jennifer and took her out. Baby Jennifer's light tuft of blonde hair matched her white Capri pants, along with the baby beige top and cute baby shoes with lace socks. "Isn't she cute?"

She hefts up her black suitcases that were patched up with postcards and pictures of L.A. "You turn my baby into a Barbie doll!"

"It's not that bad," Silena pitched in as she climbed out of the limousine, her hair was styled straight- as if she just abused it with the hair straightener, and her eyes were lined with black liquid eyeliner and she wore a red floral sundress with sling back wedges. "And you look amazing in your new hair, don't you think mom?"

"Uh-huh red was a nice choice," Aphrodite agreed, _and sooner or later I'll be reading fashion magazines, _Piper shuddered mentally as she scanned the field of the school. Freshmen were all dressed in their uniforms, excited and perky as usual, sophomores were dressed in super expensive clothes- trying to look cool and fit in with the seniors (it almost seems years ago since Piper was a sophomore at Songbird), juniors were trying their best to slack off and buy their way out of school and seniors were just begging to get out.

Songbird Academy might not look like it but it almost seems like any normal high school you can come across- especially the behavior.

"Well, you guys better go" Piper smiled at them, "I need to go unpack,"

"Okay now remembers; write emails once a week and you're visiting for Christmas _and _Easter, right?" Aphrodite pointed out, her eyes narrowed for a while. Piper knew that Aphrodite was trying her hardest to make up for the past eight years she had abandoned Piper alone with her father- and heck sometimes her father wasn't even there-not to mention, he disowned her after she was pregnant with Jason's baby Jennifer…II. But Piper didn't really give Aphrodite a chance to be nice to her during the Christmas Holidays and now Piper knew that she should try her best to hold back the crude comments and sarcastic roll eyes.

"Yeah, promise," Piper try to force her smile on her face, she saw Annabeth dressed in a simple white vest top with knee height jeans and a grey scarf. Piper can see Annabeth standing with a guy who was obviously Annabeth's dad- Annabeth inherited his nose and cheekbones, and a pretty blonde woman who didn't look smart enough to be Annabeth's mom. And she thought Annabeth's stepmother was supposed to be an Asian, beautiful, middle-age woman with the deepest set of brown eyes ever not some skinny, blonde, blue-eyed college graduate with rich clothes.

"Piper?"

She turned around and even without the appearance; she saw Jason dressed in a rugged blue shirt (which really brought out his eyes) and his blonde rugged hair had grew longer and his baggy jeans had fit his snug hips loosely, "Jason," Aphrodite looked up and her eyes exchanged between both of them and she hand Piper Jennifer.

"Well, I'm going to let you have some alone time with Jennifer and Jason okay?" Aphrodite said immediately, she took Silena by the wrist and dragged her into the car.

"She's beautiful," Jason said to baby Jennifer, "She looks like you,"

"Thanks," She offered Jennifer to Jason to hold her, "You can hold her," Jennifer in his arms, and surprisingly she didn't burst out crying because when Piper tried to let other people hold Jennifer, Jennifer would throw a crying fit.

"Anyway, I want to talk to you about us…" He trailed off, his innocent blue eyes bring back sharp memories and made it sting harder than rubbing salt to a bleeding wound, it brought back times when they held hands and when he would brushed a lock of choppy loose brown braided strand from her head, it also bring back the sharp pain when he told her he didn't love her and left her alone, pregnant, fatherless and no money to pay for baby clothes, napkins, bottles, sonograms and so on. And it also brought back that heated, awkward moment in the car the night she gave birth to Jennifer.

"Jason, seeing you was amazing again and great to see you all happy but seeing you again brought back a lot of unwanted memories," Her eyes flashed like broken glass, her dark red hair unkempt in curls. "And it reminds me one of the reasons we never work, every time I see you it reminds me of that night when you told me you didn't love me," She forced the tears and bulimia down.

"But Killer made me-"

"It's not about Killer," She cut off, her voice broke a little, "Or whatever, that's the past or even the fact that you shared one measly kiss with Reyna," She kept her eyes focused on a rose right behind Jason, because looking at him might just cause her to breakdown. "It's the fact that you didn't care enough or man enough to tell me the truth and beat Killer down, I can handle the fact that you kiss Reyna but not the fact that you would break my heart to protect the truth,"

"But-"

"Look," Piper took back Jennifer from Jason's hands, "You were an amazing boyfriend," She patted him on the shoulder and told him what she had been thinking about all summer, "But I'm not ready for a relationship after all the chaos last year, it's gonna be a boy free year for me…hopefully," She added thoughtfully. "Okay?"

"I understand," Jason nodded but his eyes were sad and Piper felt like she just told Bambi he was a horrible, bad deer.

"But we can still be friends," Piper suggested, hefting up Jennifer again because she was slipping.

"Friends," Jason shook Piper hand; she felt a slight tingle- almost like when they first met but it wasn't the same.

* * *

"Room 217," Piper said to herself as she stopped in front of an Ethiopian crafted door that had a brass plate on it with the title carved in it.

She knocked on the door, her fingers curled around her black handle of her luggage and she readjusts the strap on her messenger hand carry luggage bag. "Come in," A muffled voice called out towards her, she grasped the cold doorknob and pushed it open.

Every single year, they changed dorms- so you can be 'friends' with other people. The room was furnished differently than her old dorm when she was rooming with Annabeth, Thalia, Rachel and Juniper. Instead of peach silk quilts, it was slender chiffon angelic white sheets, no Chinese embroidered dragon peach pillows it was fluffy angel clam pillows and all the beds were four posters with see through white sheer curtains. Small bedsides tables was obviously white and polished with gold knobs, golden trunks were stacked in front of the beds for people to fill their clothes and shoes in there along with other garments and girls with shiny blonde hair and plastic surgery was loitering around a bed near the window, around a girl who was talking about her summer and something Piper wasn't interesting in.

Piper brushed a lock of loose hair that came down due to the fact that she was hefting about three heavy luggages into the room, "Thank you for helping," She retorted to no one, they all ignore her.

She saw a bed by the corner that looked empty and dragged all her belongings over there. She thumped all her bags onto the bed and pause to glance at her weary, now seventeen year old self in the golden framed mirror standing on the bedside table. Her dark red hair flowed into mid-size curls, she wore dark makeup- it was mostly an inspiration from Thalia (thin subtle eyeliner and nude lip gloss) and her jeans were getting snug.

She zipped open her bag and started unpacking, "New girl," A familiar voice called as she began unpacking her clothes into her trunk. She turned around and saw Drew, gorgeous and poise with a group of beautiful blondes in coach clothes. Drew's dark hair cascaded into a tunnel of sideway waves. Her dark brown eyes twinkled in gorgeous lights, framed off with brown colored eyelashes and a sarcastic Paul Frank Lip Smackers smile.

"Oh my god," Piper sighed, her eyebrows creased together in annoyance. Drew raised her perfectly arched eyebrows as she made her way towards Piper, her blue Versace denim halter dress with a cashmere scarf and a thin black belt. Her towering wedges made her at least half a head taller than Piper.

"Nice to meet you," Drew greeted as the girls behind her giggled; a gorgeous blonde snorted with laugher as she swing her $1000 hair back onto her shoulder.

"We've met," Piper snapped back, her walls rising up and her tongue sharping in again.

"Be that way, and you might want to change into something black for Tammie Vega's memorial, hon," Drew informed her, she walked away with her crew of wannabe blondes and Piper made a face behind Drew's back.

Piper took out her toiletries bag and opened her bedside drawer, it was empty but there was a simple black envelope in it that had her name written on it.

She took the envelope and ripped it open, it had a white card and words written in delightful calligraphy- the writing was so precise, it couldn't have been written.

_Piper Mclean,_

_You have been invited to Constance Clique, the most elite clubs in Connecticut._

_Your orientation is at the Wood, midnight tonight. _

"Constance Clique?" Piper whispered softly.

"Get ready for the memorial," Drew sing-song, she took out a black stash dress.

"Tammie's memorial…" Piper muttered to herself, she pack the envelope into her bag and pretended like it never happen.

* * *

The masked figure took off her hoodie, revealing a beautiful black corset dress. The figure's blonde curly hair was a wig; her tan skin was spray on and her blue eyes were color contacts. She combed out the tangles out of the blonde wig and applied the light cocoa lipstick; she strapped on the straps of her black stilettos and painted her nails black.

She applied the mascara onto her long eyelashes (real); she applied some more bronzer onto her skin and applied some Channel perfume. She smiled into the mirror as she flipped her hair back to show off her long neck and she went to reach into her purse and brought out a long silver gun. Twirling the trigger hole onto her fingers and re-empty out the bullets and put the silver 0.19mm bullets in to her sniper rifle- the type that was perfect for assassination and place it into her purse again.

She stood up from her vanity chair and admires her tall slender figure, and she took her purse in her hands. No one would ever guess it had a deadly weapon in it. It was going to end with a bag, after all she was going to a funeral.


	3. Back from the Dead

Chapter 3

Back from the dead

Reyna White's face was a rare one. Her beauty wasn't common, not the natural, clean, beach type, not the innocent girly type, not the fierce rocker type but she had a face that withheld beauty only female, classic role models held- such as she had large, intense Audrey Hepburn eyes, Grace Kelly's straight, patrician nose, Elizabeth Taylor's cupid bow pout lips and Bette Davis's high cheekbones. Some always compare her face to Jennifer's daunting, English beauty- they often pointed out they have the same cheekbones, nose and arched eyebrows.

Thinking of Jennifer while her eyes glazed over at the memorial, Drew was going on and on about how much she missed Scar- Tammie and she remember one of the nicer times of Jennifer.

_"I have to win this valedictorian spot," Reyna stressed as she made herself a strong black coffee, pouring hot water from the jug that just boiled the water she filled in five minutes ago. "If I don't- my parents would throw a cow on my head and Hylla would throw a tractor,"_

_"And you need to work on farm jokes," Jennifer rolled her eyes as she took and apple and bit it. "But I can help you win," _

_"How?" Reyna asked as she slowly sipped her coffee. "I'm against Sue Ching," She grumbled, Sue Ching was a Korean girl who had straight As ever year on every test._

_"I can sneak a little ballot cards in," Jennifer said with a naughty glint in her green grey eyes. Her dark hair was down in transcending curls of midnight waves, her pale skin made her blood red even redder. A smirk emerge on her lips, she gave Reyna a little wink at Reyna's horrified expression. _

_"I'm not going to cheat, as much as I want to win this this I don't use short cut," Reyna snapped, she pried open her laptop and her eyes widened. "I'm down by half of Sue's votes! Forget what I said, I'm going to ask Hylla for help,"_

_Reyna blew a sigh out; she slammed her laptop shut and began to finish her coffee. "Are you sure she's going to help you?" Jennifer asked with a slight eyebrow raise. "Not set you on self-destruct,"_

_"Oh ha-ha," Reyna drawled sarcastically. "But she actually offered help and nicely, I think she's coming through,"_

_Jennifer threw her head back and let out a fake loud laugh, 'You're joking, right?" Then she saw Reyna's blank, are-you-serious look? "Oh, you're not, look Hylla- nice, Hylla- sweet- it's all an act, believe me I know," She said, her eyes crossing in fury for a while. _

_"You don't have an older sister," Reyna pointed out in facts, "Don't you mean Kadden? Because I can't see him beating you at something and trying to steal your spotlight,"_

_"Flattered," Jennifer inspected her nails and took another ladylike bite, "But when we little, Kadden was always competitive and _perfect_,"_

_"Are you sure that isn't you?" Reyna snorted, "Your point?"_

_"My point is that Hylla would 'help' you," She put air quotes on 'help, "Then you loose and she'll gloat about this for the rest of your life- prepare for your children to hear your humiliation," She said with a slight sneer. _

_"Jennifer, I need this," Reyna's upper lip trembled, she was going to cry and she hardly cry. The last time she cried was when she scratched half of her face on the road when she fell of her scooter when she was nine. Bile rose to her throat, her gag reflection fought back and she took another strong gulp of coffee. "My mom would practically disowned me,"_

_"It's okay," Jennifer had her scheming smile on, her eyes glinted with malice. "I got it all under my belt,"_

_"Sure you do," Reyna rolled her eyes and she surveyed Jennifer for a moment, maybe she wasn't as bad as she thought she was. _

Now thinking about it, she figured Jennifer would've been a little bit more supportive than Hylla. "Now, may the march begin and the choir would sing the hymn 'Abide with Me'." The priest clipped tone's echoed to the podium, Reyna soothed down her chiffon black shawl skirt over her black silk passed-knee skirt, her white button down shirt tucked in and a black simple belt.

After the singing, they were all gathered for supper in honor of Tammie's death- Reyna didn't know why the hell they try to celebrate a death of a girl who tried to ruin people's life but then again there's many things wrong with the world today. They all gathered around a long white table, polished bronze cutlery and plates were lined together and a bronze old fashioned candle lights in each section. It was sort of like a modern version of the supper room Jesus had the last few hours he was alive.

As she sat down, the meals were starting to roll in. A beep sounded in her phone in her bag, she reached in and took out her brand new Samsung Galaxy, her fingers zoomed her secret password thingy and checked her inbox.

**Jeez, I'm hungry! Guess what meals- I mean, secrets had been cooked up this year? Lots, oh and surprise, surprise. I'm not dead. **

**-Killer**

Reyna dropped her phone onto the stone ground, it clattered with a loud splat and the insides of her phone splattered across the floor. People gave her weird looks, "Slippery fingers," She lied easily and then gave Annabeth a knowing, Killer-alert look. "Annabeth, Piper can I talk to you outside?"

Annabeth stood up from seat, her grey eyes pre-occupied as usual, stormy and ready to kill, blonde curly hair that sways even smoother than an expert tango dancer- Reyna was always jealous of her hair, and her natural light fit her ghostly pale button down dress with silvery wedges.

Piper's makeover made Reyna crease her eyebrows together when she first saw Piper at the car park, crimson dark red brown hair cascaded to the middle of her bag in layered, perm tousles, her creamy cocoa skin complimented the burgundy purple-dark red Aphrodite Lola custom made quilt silk knee-length dress along with black stripy heels and her makeup was dark- dark, maroon red pouty glossy lips and mascara, dark thick eyeliner-ed eyes and red rosy cheeks. She wore an elbow length silk purple gloves and she look like a gothic vampire princess- her features and the Vampire looking part made her look like that Elena girl on Vampire Diaries.

They followed Reyna towards the outside garden, at the cemetery. She pressed her fingers on her temples, "Killer's back," She whimpered immediately to Annabeth, who fixed her eyebrows in a crossover in confusion and blankness.

"Killer's dead, Reyna and I wasn't there to see her die," Piper told Reyna rather rudely- which seems pretty out of character coming from Piper, maybe she was still miffed from last year.

"No, believe me she's still alive, I just got a text," The panic was building up in Reyna's chest, "Guys, we have to watch out,"

"It seems kind of cheesy for Killer to be here, I mean it could be just a prank," Annabeth's expression was like she was trying her best not to burst her bubble.

"It's-" A loud gunshot sounded from the distance, a cloud of pigeons flew and the three girls jumped in frightful shock.

"What was that?" Annabeth exclaimed, choking at the smell of heavy gunpowder as she was blown away from her feet.

"I-I don't know," Piper pulled herself up; she brushed off the dust off her dress and gloves. Her phone beeped and so did Annabeth's. Annabeth's Treo were flashed out and Piper clicked on her iPhone to check her inbox.

Reyna leaned over at Annabeth to take a peek at her text message:

**PEEKABOOM! Did I scare you? We're at the perfect place because I already dig up some graves, three graves for three pretty girls. It fits right?**

**-Killer.**

* * *

"Okay, so you're right," Piper said as they journeyed through the school's courtyard. _This is like old times, _she thought as she felt the weight of her books shifted to another palm. Piper's dark gothic style change was hard to adjust from the old Piper- with faded overalls and torn shoes, now she wore a scruffy red and black plaid knee length dress with choppy ends on her hem; she wore buckle black retro boots and a chain of silver and black chains with hoop earrings. Her dark red/brown curly hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, her dark red lips glossed over and her usual subtle liquid eyeliner.

"But it could still be a silly prank from someone stupid," Annabeth pointed out logically. Her natural cascading blonde hair held up in a ponytail, she wore a camel V-neck top and a pair of jeans with a cartoon owl stitched on the right hem of her jeans.

"We don't know that," Reyna tried to squeeze the big loose lock of her hair in to her braid. "The point is that we have to keep out," Reyna dumped her books on the garden table. She sat down and stretched her limbs out. They were sitting on the outside gardens of Songbird, right on the vendetta of the brand new Ice Shave dairy shop. Reyna was trying not to let the awkwardness seeped in the atmosphere, ever since last year there were always mixed emotions and secrets they wanted to keep.

"Yeah, we all remember what happens when someone's doubt Killer's strength," Piper snorted as she gave Annabeth a sarcastic eye roll.

"Don't go there," Annabeth gritted her teeth as she called the waiter nearby. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Reyna stood up, "Is that Killer?"

"No, just my mom," Reyna lied easily as she took her phone and clicked the answer button, she go over to a corner at the vendetta and pressed her phone on her ear.

"Miss White?" The same, stern voice echoed through the intercom

"Yes?" Reyna took a look at the table where Annabeth and Piper was sitting at, they were ordering their ice shaves.

"Apparently, searching up on Miss Brown- her adoption was a private one, so all information is confidential." The clipped tone was stern.

"You don't understand, I really need this," Reyna croaked, her mouth dry. She needed to find out why did the Browns give her up? Was it because she wasn't good enough in comparison to Jennifer? The Whites often treated her like dirt, her mother expects a pot full of gold from her and Hylla was as supportive as a stick. "My name is Reyna White; surely there is some name changing birth certificate in there,"

"Miss White…?" The woman's automatic voice trailed off and a certain spark of emotion entered her voice, "You're Regina Brown,"

"Yes and I need to know why they," Reyna forced her emotions back into her throat; she didn't like showing her weakness. She wanted to find out the truth of her real parents, who she really was and why did it shape her to be who she is right now. "Why they send I away and I need to know if they ever would love me the way my family never did,"

"I would give you the number of Mr. Brown's contact details so you'll discussed with him," The woman hung up and Reyna tucked her phone back in to the side pocket of her jeans. She went back to the table where Piper and Annabeth was sitting at, enjoying their ice shaves.

"What was the call about?" Annabeth asked as she titled her head up, swaying her blonde hair and letting it fall into a charade of curls. Annabeth dipped her spoon into the white creamy vanilla ice shave and pick some chocolate chips and swiped it into her mouth.

"Just some stuff," Reyna lied, feeling no guilt for lying about it. Everyone keeps secrets and she felt the need to keep her mouth shut- she learn from an early time to do _that._

* * *

"Here are the phone number and a wad of five hundred dollars in cash," Killer smiled as she readjust her fake glasses, "Mr. Brown wanted Miss White to know her real parents about this period of time," Her fingers raked through the clipboard, sounding like a professional. She look like a typical presidential assistant in a white summer dress and simple black wedges but the glasses, the blonde wig and brown eyes.

"Thank you," The woman's clipped tone was pleased, her dull grey hair fixed in a bun and her watery blue eyes sparkled when she saw the money. _Greedy old hag, _Killer licked her lips softly as she tossed her hair back.

"Gladly to help, please call Miss White precisely tomorrow," She laced her pale fingers together and blinked doe eyes at the woman who nodded.

"Of course," The woman nodded in agreement and understanding.

"Thank you, now I must get going," Killer stood up from the chair and strode out of the grey, lifeless office. The stale air of too much air conditioning and old coffee swayed past her nostrils as she marched out of the building and into the autumn climate of September. A knife hidden right in her clipboard, right underneath layers of paper and she held her head high.

The people in the car park didn't even gave her a single glance, she was just a young innocent girl in the streets not a cruel, twisted monster ready to ripped out three hearts out and Killer smirked to herself as she went up to her black BMW- she just loves how the world works.

* * *

**YAY! MY B-DAY is here, woo, woo hoo! It's on thursday, but I'm still happy and you know what would make me happier? My readers actually reviewing, not like _some _people that just goes: Killer pay that lady to give info to Reyna? GASPS! Go to random page. No, insert a long heartfelt review in there and also a happy b-day shout out!**

**Don't own anything.**

**Wink and a happy B-DAY to moi,**

**Savvy.**


	4. Bend or Break

Chapter 4

Bend or Break

Annabeth was lying in her bed; her eyes wide awake as she stared on the Italian ceiling oil paintings, her blonde hair was sprayed across the mattress and her grey eyes were pre-occupied with thoughts as she blinked up to see the Caravaggio artwork painted on the beige ceiling- blue fluffy skies that was dark and grey in the night.

The whole first day of school was a blur- from the early morning flight from San Francisco, to Tammie's funeral, to Killer's hello message, to doing nothing for the rest of the afternoon and to now. Her head feels lightheaded on his new Killer, it could be just a harmless prank- the logical assumption anyone would've pick up or the actual real worse one would be that Killer had awoken from the grave- back to haunting their lives about their weird past they all shared together, Annabeth knew better than to doubt Killer this time- she knew that Killer could make me people do horrible things or blackmail them to give something up.

Of course, having ice shave with Reyna and Piper felt like old times but it also stirred up unwanted feelings, resentment; Piper was the reason why Annabeth got held back from college and senior year, Killer made Percy broke up with Piper, Annabeth was driven to rage so she tipped off to everyone that Piper was pregnant, Reyna's scummy cheating experiences and past secrets- like the fact that Annabeth knew about her dad's affair for four years and never told anybody. Even though the affair was exposed already and Helen wasn't exactly Annabeth's best pal, Annabeth still felt guilty that she held the secret back for so long.

If Jennifer was here, she would've rolled her eyes and said, "I told you, you should've told Helen in the first place- now that Killer _chica_ is going to get you for sure,"

Jennifer was a pain, she was obnoxious, brutal, mean, cruel and bitchy but she was looking out for them in a way, telling them to do this or not it'll go down worse.

It made her think of her _nice_ conversation with that blonde young college witch her father left Helen for.

_"Annabeth," Lily pursed her lips as she lifted her dolce sunglasses a little up against the bridge of her nose. 'May I talk to you in private for a moment," Her red lips riper than an apple suppressed a thin, tight smile. _

_Annabeth felt her body tighten in, ready to pull punches and her eyes went slack for a moment when she saw a boy with windswept hair and sea green eyes lugged his bags and luggage out of his beat up truck. She remembered that truck, that red Chevy truck Percy owned and took her for a romantic picnic in the woods last year and the tingles that Percy sent throughout her body when he tucked in a lock of loose curly blonde hair that fell from her light, pretty face. "Yeah of course," She forced the words out; she basically stumbled her way to a secretive spot where Lily composed herself as an elegant woman ready for a nice heartfelt talk. _

_"Annabeth, I want to assure you that your father is a very fine man- you're so lucky that he's your father," Lily told her, she took off her sunglasses and revealed her azure clear eyes. _

_Annabeth tore her eyes away from Percy and focused on the conversation, "Um, thanks, I guess,"_

_"So let's do this shall we," Lily laced her fingers together in a business-like manner. "You were daddy's little girl, that old Helen hag is out of the way and I shall take your crown of being the special one and if you try anything- well I assure you it's not going to be pretty,"_

_Annabeth blinked, slightly shocked from the rude manner Lily had displayed. Lily often preserved herself as some helpless, doe-eye tramp that needed some masculine guy to rescue her not the pretty deceptive Snow White Evil Queen. "Excuse me?" Annabeth asked again._

_"Well we all know how the movie plays, I win- you lose, you try to rematch- I kick your butt all the way to Switzerland and you won't be returning until your officially married," Lily's smile was now sinister, no longer kind and sweet. _

_"First of all, I didn't ask things to be pretty," Annabeth scoffed, the tongue she used to battle Drew was switched on. "And I don't want to be my dad's little girl, as far as I know my dad is a scumbag; well for choosing your out of Helen,'_

_"Excuse me?" Lily sneered, "You won't be back till Christmas and you're going to go to the Helen Hag station while I get daddy all to myself,"_

_"I'm fine with Helen as long as you won't be there," Annabeth narrowed her eyes and walked away from Lily, she walked back to where her family was standing at- admiring the school, well for Bobby and Matthew they were kicking grass. "Pathetic," She muttered under her breath._

Now as she stared up against the ceiling, she was drifting to sleep and then she closed her eyes.

* * *

Laughter roared into her ears as she looked up from her lunch, her grey eyes danced angrily in front of her. She took a bite out of her Panini and brushed the lock of blonde hair out of her face.

"So you just use your fingers to flick the paint brush to make a piece?" Percy laughed as his calloused fingers, sometimes a little infected by chlorine brushed through the rough painting canvas- it was Rachel's panting, she was showing him some of his work to get them all inspired for their art project they were working on.

Rachel nodded with a big smile, "Yeah," She held the canvas up as the light made the ray of rainbow colors come alive into the world. They stared in each other's eyes for a while until Annabeth couldn't take it, it was just the first day of class starting and Percy already got a date?

She tried to hide her irritation and jea- no she wasn't _jealous, _Annabeth took a large chunk out of her beef Panini, letting the cheese melts in her mouth and she tried to think about other things like getting past high school without having to repeat multiple times and the Easy As she could score in class. She let out a steamy sigh, blowing off her melting pot in her head. It was a gorgeous day in the falls, red orange yellow leaves were swept from the green turning brown leaves, people was either wrapped in light Lacoste jumpers or Ralph Lauren cargo cardigans and they were all catching up, friends hugging each other and getting back to the hardcore studying schedule.

"It's seriously awesome," Percy noted as he took a bite out of his cheeseburger. Rachel placed the canvas back into her portfolio folder; she took out another one and held it up for Percy to see. It was a charcoal drawing of the Empire State and a part of Time Square, the drawing was amazingly detailed- the shadowing was adequate and the lines and sketches were rough and smoky but it was the point of the effect.

"I call this piece Bad New York, like you know sort of Brooklyn theme but in Manhattan," Rachel sad, she put down her easel to take one bite from her coleslaw. They were all sitting outside the courtyard, sometimes they eat inside the hall and sometimes they eat outside in the school's garden. Annabeth let out a steamy sigh. Her eyes trailed over to Drew, her brand new dark bob brought out her honey Asian features and her warm dark eyes were enchanting as usual. She wore a branded mustard Juicy Couture bohemian scarf, along with a black body slimming dress with some brown Mary Janes boots and a bunch of blonde girls behind her that were half as beautiful.

Piper was trailing behind, dressed in a black, white and pink wool checkered t-shirt dress with navy sheer panty hose and black boots. A grungy denim jacket was over her dress, the jacket was patched up with different type of jeans, denim, corduroy and chambray and a sign on the back that says: **Manhattan. **And a metallic tribal necklace with matching bracelet to go with the whole good girl rocker chic theme, dark subtle thin makeup made Piper eyes' stand out the most and slight glossy pink lips made her skin tone much lighter.

"Well, anyway what do you think of Upper East Side in Manhattan as in pretty and high class on one side, and the grungy Brooklyn on the other with some exploding tricks," Rachel suggested as she took a chunk out of her garlic bread.

"Yeah, how about we have some coffee over some ideas for the project?" Percy smiled nicely at her. Rachel nodded; her auburn fiery red hair was wrapped in a high curly ponytail with a sunset butterfly clip. She wore a long-sleeve yellow acrylic polka dot collar and cuff sleeves pullover on top of a pair of funky tights with old pictures templates as a pattern, she also wore Dameon oxford brown leather ankle boots with Ted Baker Pepper Pig and Peal pendant necklace and Ashley Pittman Bamba set of horn and bronze bangles.

"Sure," Rachel agreed as Annabeth tried her best to ignore the crucifying sight of Rachel and Percy together. But she couldn't take it anymore.

She slammed her sandwich into her plate, making Rachel and Percy looked up from the canvas. "Can you please eat lunch somewhere?" She asked frostily.

Percy and Rachel finally got their attention on her; Annabeth's stormy eyes were ready to shoot lasers out of them. "Oh, I'm so insensitive," Rachel scrunched up her face in apologize. "Jeez, how's the Juniors Annie?"

"Fine," Annabeth responded with an icy demeanor. She stood up, wrinkling her light caramel and white sweater that she wore over her cream white embroidered square spaghetti top. She didn't feel weird mixing flapper, fringe brown suede boots with military high waist button shorts that had her sweater tucked in. Her blonde hair flowed down in blonde curls, the sunlight making her hair blonder than ever, the autumn colors made it nearly strawberry blonde and she wore a long rhinestone owl necklace with a silver pearl single own charm.

"Annabeth, can I talk to you?" Percy asked as his eyebrows creased at her stony expression, she looked ready to kill at Rachel.

"Yes," Percy grabbed her away from the table and took her to a corner for them to talk. "What do you want?" Annabeth spat out moodily.

"Why are you so cold to everyone?" Percy whispered harshly once they were out of earshot.

"Do you have any idea how I feel when we broke up?" Annabeth questioned as her eyes stormed like clouds before they rain. She remembers feeling all mopey the rest of the sunny summer holidays, sitting by the window still as she curled up with a book. "You left me feeling horrible and to come back to see you dating already on the first day, it hurts Percy," Her voice cracked at the end, the hurt pouring in her words. The ache was coming back again.

"Annabeth, I never knew-"

"And I'm sorry for making you feel useless and leaving you out but I just want to protect from Killer," Annabeth spluttered out. She held back her tears, she brushed the curls out of her face and her eyes that were stormy were lined with silver grey.

"Well, maybe instead of thinking I'm helpless maybe you should think I could help," Percy grumbled and then he stormed off.

Annabeth watched him go back to Rachel, who smiled delightfully at him. Her green eyes sparkled with playful mischief, as they laughed about something and continue to eat lunch. Anger and jealousy bubbled over the fountain of Annabeth's head and a text messages sounded from her phone.

She took it from her high-waist pocket and read the message:

**What normally fuels revenge and vengeance? Jealousy. And I heard that revenge is a dish best serve cold.**

**Hungry, Annie?**

**-Killer.**

She tried not to let the words go in her head. _I'm not jealous…no revenge…Rachel and Percy…_but then the sight of Rachel giggling and Percy smiling goofily made her eyes went crossover. She took her phone and hit her contact list hard.

_Leah_

_Lance_

And then…

_Luke. _

Her fingers curled around the call button and she took another look at them and she hit the button hard without another smart thought.

* * *

**YAY! I'm OFFICIALLY [inserts age here)! My B-day is officially here! Happy dance, but however we need things to discuss. **

**Percabeth. And yes, yes I dare bring Mr. Castellan into this and I dare cross that shipping line. I call it 'The Shipping Line' meaning that I bring one person that can obviously mess up the shipping. THE LINE_LOL.**

**Don't own anything.**

**-Killer.**


	5. Constance

Chapter 5

Constance

_What's Constance? _It was the only thought on her mind as she slapped the branch of a loose long oak leaves out of her face. She was dressed in the Songbird Academy track uniform, a bitter gunmetal taste in her mouth formed as she stepped carefully onto the ground that was covered in mulch.

She raised her head to look up in the starry sky. She stumbled onto the opening of a clearing and held back a yelp of pain as she nearly twisted her ankle onto a bulky oak tree root. She bit onto her lower lip and fell onto the dry muddy ground with a loud _fump! _"Ow…" She hissed to herself as she swallowed down the taste of salty blood in her mouth. _I'm such a klutz, _she cursed at herself as she winced and pulled herself up from the ground.

She wiped of some blood from her mouth and tested whether her right ankle was fine or not, she wiggled the joint with her light fingers and a sharp pain pierced into her body. She took a sharp breath to withhold the yowls of pain, white dots exploded in front of her eyes as she tried to find her ankle and see where it hurts. _I am such a weakling; _she gritted her teeth as she set herself gently onto the root. Breathing in and out, her sight started to clear and the pain wasn't screaming up close to her so much anymore.

Her right ankle wasn't twisted in the wrong direction where it isn't supposed to be but it was sprained. She let out a frustrated sigh, what was she doing here anyway? It was the millionth time she asked herself that question. An underage, seventeen year old girl alone in the dark, creepy woods of Connecticut whereas she was supposed to be behind the tall, expensive brick beige walls of Songbird Academy, covered in quilted sheets and having a nice, cozy sleep. She can almost imagine sleeping, her eyes gazing over and sleep settling in…

_Stay alert! _Her eyes snapped open, wide awake. She saw a long dead leaf lying on the ground right next at the end of the tree root. Piper crawled, her hands grasping at the leaf and crushing the tiny dry leaves into pieces as her rough hands clawed for the leaf and snatched it. She wrapped the leaf around her ankle, trying her best to do a knot with a leaf so it would elevate her ankle. "I'm never ever being a nurse," She murmured to herself as she clawed at the large oak tree behind her to help her get up, she forced all her weight onto her good foot. She stood up and let out a breath of pain out.

She limped her way, inhaling sharply every time the pain needle stabbed into her right ankle. She made it to the clearing and a group of cloaked white robes. "Constance?" Piper croaked aloud as she dragged her foot towards them.

The cloaked figures took off their hoods, their faces were beautiful but the most outstanding face was a brunette. She was tall, dark-haired and cocoa-skinned. Her features were define, Grecian and Arabian crafted features- high straight nose, high cheekbones, sharp chin and dark eyes framed with big long eye lashes- she looked almost like Reyna but with a taller much more curvaceous body and full lips. It was Bianca Di Angelo.

"Piper?" Thalia asked as she stepped forward, her face for once was clear of all the Goth makeup, her eyebrows creases together the way hoe Jason's eyebrows creases when he was either in shock or was nervous about tests. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here Constance, what are you doing here?" Piper limped forward to Thalia.

"You're invited in Constance," Thalia spluttered, not in a mean way. She turned to Bianca and pointed at Piper, "She's invited to Constance?"

"Wait, Piper is in Constance?" Another voice said in disbelief, and she was Drew Tanaka.

"What's Constance?" Piper's outburst was filled with irrigational and frustrated. "Can someone please explain to me what in the world Constance is?"

Bianca's nose flared, "Ladies, can we all assemble into our orientation places?" Thalia and Drew obeyed and formed a semicircle around Piper who felt sort of creep out by these white cloaked wearing girls who were from her school.

Those girls weren't passably good-looking like the dyed blonde faux girls that clustered around in football huddles in the school, they were model beautiful. There was a red head with ginger, creamy curls, whose face was a pale heart shape face and paired with lovely sapphires for eyes. "What's Constance?"

"A club," Thalia explained, "It had been upholding Songbird Academy's reputation for years,"

"What does it do?" Piper rubbed the mud from her hands and onto her pants.

"Different things," Bianca smirked, "Like we're the actual sources of the school gossip blog, your mentor will guide you through however the reason why you were invited because Terri Evans recommended you,"

"Why?" Piper tried not to blink or twitched, Terri Evans was a girl who died because she failed to do something for Kill- _Tammie _last year. "And what was she doing with a secret and what was she doing with a secret club?"

"Confidential information," Bianca licked her lips, "However, Drew would be your mentor,"

"What?" Piper and Drew exclaimed in an affronted tone in unison.

"You two are in the same room," Thalia pointed out, her lovely face did not look anything like Jason. "But welcome to Constance,"

A text message beeped onto Piper's phone, "Oh excuse me for a moment," Piper limped over to the corner; she keyed in her passcode and read the new anonymous message:

**Welcome to the club, newbie! We are going to have so much fun.**

**-Killer.**

Piper stared at her phone, her jaw dropped. Her knuckles turn white and she gave Bianca a suspicious once over. "Is there anything wrong?" Drew asked, battling her eyelashes innocently and her lips twisted into a half-smile.

"No," Piper shook her head, faking a smile. She scanned the rest of the Constance girls, looking for a person with a cell phone because Killer was right here in the woods right now.

* * *

Leo was basically spitting wad balls into Katie Gardener's hair when the pretty brunette enters the classroom and sat right next to him.

She dumped a large pile of books onto the metallic desk and slide into the chair. Her eyes were lined with an apple green, which really brings out the green in her multicolored eyes and her lips were coral red, she wore a simple green shirt and a jean vest over it, a simple knee-length skirt with brown boots and her dark red brown hair was tied loosely on the side. "Hi, Piper," She smiled and held out her hand towards him.

He shook it, "I'm Leo, and are you new to film-making class?"

"Yeah, I got interested in film making when I saw my dad star in the new version of Les Mis," Piper took out the text book from the messenger bag she hung right next to her.

"Oh okay," Leo said as he tapped his hyperactive fingers onto the desk. He didn't bother to ask who her dad was, by her Cherokee complexion and dimples of a man who stared in that awesome Greek movie; her father was probably Tristan Mclean- the resemblance was obvious. She was pretty, beautiful actually- like a younger version of Minka Kelly but she wasn't Reyna.

He wanted to sigh at it- Reyna, that girl was seriously complicated. Before that kiss on the rooftop last year, he always pegged her as a nagging, bossy hag that was pretty and scary at the same time but she was just someone who can actually relate to- being pushed around by her mother, overshadowed by her sister and having to choose the things she didn't want in life- like college and job choices. He could relate to being pushed around by the foster care people and his so call nice relatives, being overshadowed by Jason and forced to choose the loser college instead of the good ones because of his 'background'.

She was freaky and pretty scary but she was freaky and scary for a reason, her upbringing made her built bulky walls around her and put on the cold face- she had been run down and he know, hands down, how that feels like.

He took another glance at the red brunette right next to him, she was pretty and sweet- different from Reyna but she didn't have that toughness and weight of burden written on her outside character, as if one tiny little fracture she would've broken down- she would cry and just shattered to the ground. Behind the perfect dimples, smile and eyes, velvet hair- Piper was vulnerable and Reyna knew how to protect herself from being vulnerable- it was one of the thing he really admire about her.

Man, he really likes her and he would probably never get her- she's probably still not over Jason. "Dude, attendant roll call," Piper poked him in the ribs as he came back to Earth, awake.

"Here," He called out, raising his hand. The teacher nodded, his head was nearly bald and he wore wire-framed glasses that were boring that goes with his boring shirt and boring trousers. _Pay attention if you ever want to get into an Ivy League school with these snobs, _Leo chided his own self as he sat up straight and started to pay attention to the teacher.

"Okay, class, let's settle down," The teacher sniffed, rubbed his wet nostrils with his suit and took out a marker for the whiteboard. "I want to get started on this year's big project that is worth twenty five of your college grade," Now all the students that were groaning and half-awake were alert of course. They were rich, proud kids that wanted to make mommy and daddy have their hearts set when they go to the right school with the right grades.

"However," The teacher continue, ignoring the nervous chatter and murmurs- Leo was nervous to, he got the skills; the camera and technology stuff all under his tool belt but the ideas and scripting… "For the yearly project it would be making a movie or a set of episodes belonging to _your _own TV show, according to your idea," The nervous chatters and murmurs turned excited, Leo felt himself smiling too- this was probably one of the best projects ever!

The teacher sniffed and rubbed his snot all over his sleeve again, Leo's gag reflects fought back and he look up to the board, "You won't be doing it all alone, you would have a partner- one writer and one director, you may gather a team for your project, cast and crew but ideas and skill wise- it's all on you," He scribbled some rubbish Leo didn't care about on his board, all he could think about was who to choose to be partnered with, "You will be graded on skills and creativity, also you won't be choosing partners,"

There were some groans of disappointment but they all didn't throw a hissy fit like _public _school kids, Leo thought bitterly. "I have your partner pick out, Travis you're with Katie," Travis did a fist punch into the air; Katie buried her face into her palms- muttering curses under her breath.

"Harvey with Kate,"

"Will with Drew,"

"Leo and Piper," The teacher started on the next group of partners but Piper was already smiling at him

"Nice to speak to you again, partner," Piper chuckled as they face each other, her face lovely as the dove and her eyes even more colorful than the rainbow- Leo would've flirted like crazy with her but she wasn't that fierce, flawful, fearful brunette that open his heart. She wasn't _Reyna._

* * *

_**Aww...**_**yeah, shut up. To anonymous person who can't be bothered to log in, yeah it is based PLL but I am trying my hardest to put my original twist on it as you can see- Butterfly Crush, Constance, rich kids, boarding school and- oh wait, I can't tell you, it spoils the story. Next: Reyna and a pinch of her past and what is next for her. Who knew our Valdez could be so deep about Reyna? Well, if you think about it, he's a pretty deep character. Sorry for making the chracters to OOC and too perfect for you, A, it is AU and it fits the mood. Like you once complain about that excuse, however, I'm sorry it's too ick for you- I don't wake up every morning to impress you. I try my best to make it fit _all _for you. **

**Aren't I nice? **

**But if you don't like it still, you are welcome to report me or leave this story to be so people can enjoy it and don't be a party pooper for all the others. And I apologize for my grammar mistakes- as I said earlier, I don't wake up every morning to impress you. **

**Yours truly and Wink, **

**-Savvy.**


	6. Black or White

Chapter 6

Black or White

"Hi, it's so nice to meet you again," Reyna smiled as sweetly as she can as she sat on the cow leather couches.

"We're so delighted to have you here again too," Judy Brown gave her China porcelain cup to her; she held her own cup dainty fingers and flipped her long black hair that almost mirrored Jennifer's hair flip. "So what made you come?"

"Well, just wanted to visit and see the family," Reyna said, putting her words with a subtle touch. She brushed her hair from her left ear, and rubbed her fingers onto her knee-length jeans paired with her button down sheer shirt with stripes over the collar and cuffs a simple black singlet underneath. She wore flat black boots she borrowed from Gwen and a messenger bag that held things that were useful- some math Cambridge graded worksheets, pliers, screwdriver and pens. "How is everyone?"

"Perfectly fine," A grunt said as the door from the hallway slammed and Kadden entered in the living room, smelling like coffee beans and ivy leaves. His white top showed off his muscles nicely, the low jeans were hanging on his hips and his handsome, chiseled features were almost the male, American version of Jennifer with blue-gold eyes and dark creamy blonde cropped hair.

"Kadden," Reyna nearly choked on her cinnamon stick.

"What are you doing here?" Judy hissed poisonously. "You're supposed to be at work,"

Kadden widened his eyes in mock hurt, "There's no way to talk your children, mother," He scoffed right back and Reyna just sipped her tea quietly in the background as Mrs. Brown's ice blue eyes narrowed into slits, her face turn as white as a sheet of paper and her red lips made her look like some sort of serial killer.

"But you're not a child," Judy spat out and Reyna creased her eyebrows together. Kadden and his mom had a stare down for once, Reyna always thought her family was witches in disguise but these were killers. Their eyes challenged each other like hawks.

"Well, whatever," Kadden drawled out sarcastically, "Good luck to the grilling interview," He told Reyna as he slammed the bed room door in the distance.

Reyna raised her eyebrows at the hallway; her hair was braided into braid crown that was finished with a fishtail braid. It really compliments her high cheekbones and regal queenly face, if she wore a silk dress robe she would have been a commanding aristocrat or a Spanish version of Queen Elizabeth. "Wow," She whistled, Judy pursed her lips into a thin line and her expression was smothered into a sweet smile.

"Sorry about that, he has some problems," Judy affirmed as she sipped her tea and the clink of china tea cup plate louder than needed.

"I understand, it must have been tough ever since Jennifer," Reyna smiled, she placed her fingers carefully on her lap and crossed her legs in a lady-like manner, Judy nodded a little and she smiled in an approving way. Reyna knew how to act around the high society, ever since she was tiny her parents- well, mainly her mom had taught her how to eat proper, speak with education purposes, how to represent yourself in front of other people- all basic manners with class. Now all she had to do is get information from Mrs. Jennifer- why send her away? Why was she adopted?

Questions were more than answers.

"Yes, well- we're adjusting," Judy's eyes strayed for a while, Reyna licked her lips and she felt herself getting ready for the grilling. She studied Judy's prominent features; Jennifer got Judy's French English aristocratic features while Reyna had the same aristocratic features but with a slight Roman, Italian Spanish complexion.

"Do you know anyone by the name of Regina Brown?"

Judy's eyes glazed over as she pondered over whether she knows the name and Reyna felt her heart constrict- she expected Judy to tightened up or freak out mentally but Judy just reaction- the way how her eyes pondered off to the distance searching up the name Regina Brown and the way how her lips pulled into a frown, "Sorry, I don't know," Judy raised the cup of her tea and sipped it.

Reyna's heart sank, there was no sigh showing that Judy was lying about it- there was no nervous tapping or pulse beating faster shown in any case. Reyna felt her heart sunk- it could have been another Brown family that was her real family. "Oh, okay, well I just thought you would know her,"

She shouldered her messenger bag and then her cell phone let out a beep- alerting her that she had a new message from her phone, "Oh please excuse me," Reyna said graciously, layering the sugar on her words and hiding the disappointment. She took out her phone and got up from the seat, she ent to a corner and checked her inbox.

**Regina, darling, you learned from the best from the very start- don't scrape at the top of the barrel, the good parts are at the bottom starting with Daddy White's lock cabinet inside the room. **

**What big, bad secret is hiding there? **

**Dare to touch?**

**-Killer. **

Reyna snapped her phone; she took a back glance at Judy who was still sitting in the couch- taking a bite out of her croissant topped with caviar on the top and a sip of champagne. Daddy White means her father, the dad of the White family- her adopted family and there as a white cabinet up in her parents room that was always kept locked. She asked Hylla- she said its typical stuff like money, bank insurance and stuff, mom said it was dad's very important, confidential work and dad said it was money- a lot of money.

But the most important question of all was why was Killer _helping _her?

* * *

"Listen up, juniors," Hera barked at the students as her stern face puckered into a scowl, her loud voice was ten times louder as she yelled into the microphone on the podium she was standing on. Mrs. Hera's dark hair was pulled into a tight bun secured with bobby pins, her winged collared white blouse looked like it belonged to the seventeen century and her dark skirt was pleated- it matched the dark brown leather clogs attached to her feet. "Ivy Week is coming up, Deans from different school will be coming and you better put yourself out there this time!"

Jason stared at the podium stubbornly, clenching his jaw as the rest of the juniors raised their chins to face one of the most important events to lie- the life that mommy and daddy had set for them; hoping they would make mommy and daddy have their hearts content. He glared at Hera for a while- his stepmother and then continues to listen to her rattle on Ivy Week.

Ivy Week was a week when all the juniors start prepping for college, the weekend will be the Ivy Tea where the deans from proud and elite colleges- preferably the Ivy Leagues will attend the Ivy Tea and it would be a chance where the students talk to the deans of the schools' they wanted to be in- a chance to wow them and get you a slot into that college.

He gritted his teeth- he didn't know why he was so angry. Hera- the stupid stepmother of the west was giving everyone daggers as she listed the schools that will be coming over.

All his life- he felt like someone was living his own life; he was always the perfect, blonde, rich kid whose dad was the Headmaster and part of the Executive board of Ivy Leagues and he spend his life sucking up to rich old people and having everything his way- the time when his dad sweet-talk his flight instructor to giving his flying license when he was twelve, how he sneaked out of trouble with the law when he accidentally crashed his first bi-plane into the Vltava lake in Prague when he was fourteen and the time when his dad got a free dessert out of a waiter when he and Leo got into _so _much trouble for putting hot chilly into the waiter's underpants.

Once Leo told him this:

_"Dude, your dad is awesome," Leo whispered to him as Jason took a large bite out of his beef burger- he liked it when his dad wasn't there to boss him into crisp shirts and ironed trousers; it was one of the days where he wore baggy jeans and faded Arsenal t-shirts. "If he can get us out of trouble this easily- remember that plane you crash in Prague? We can do something much crazier than that,"_

Now he sneak a look at Piper who was sitting calmly in her seat, her beautiful irises flashed into a light dainty blue before switching for a hazel green, she raised her chin up- that tiny dimpled on her chin made her face shape cuter as she pursed her soft lips at Hera's rambles. Her dark red brown hair woven into a loose braid, she wore a simple brown cardigan over her collared white tea dress with a clasped gold belt and paired with slouchy brown boots. Her good natured face was caked with natural, sun gleaming bronzer, a light brush of earth brown over her eyes and glossy nude lips.

The most stupid thing he had ever done in his love life was let her get away; she was different from Reyna- different from all the girls he had ever dated. Sure the other girls he ever dated- Alison, his first love, only cared about getting a kiss from him and then she ran off to her friends to brag all about it, Karen, the girlfriend right before Reyna was the hardest blow in his life- they dated for two years, the golden years of Middle School in his private school in France. They were always together, and he loved her so much- it was the first time he felt that strong emotion that made him weak to the knees.

He hates to admit it, but he hated feeling emotions- strong ones that can made him weak. The problem with Karen was she had a slight problem, it all started when her parents' divorced- she started doing bad things, the quirky dark haired, green eyed girl he dated was no longer there, she started smoking, clubbing and changing her style. The clean, good girl preppy demeanor disappeared into piercings, streaked hair and dark purple lips. Then the biggest blow hit- Karen killed herself.

He remembered her last words she spoke to him- they were in a fight.

_"Let go off me!" Karen yanked Jason's hand off her arm. Her long dark hair that use to be smooth and luscious were chopped into a layered, punk choppy mix streaked with green highlights, she wore feathered earrings, her eyes were heavily massacred with dark eyeliner and mascara, her purple lips were plum and cupid bow shaped. She tilted her chin stubbornly as her hazel green eyes flashed defiantly; her cocoa rich skin was still slender as velvet as she slapped him off. "Stay away from me, you're not my mother,"_

_"Karen, please, just listens," A fourteen year old Jason stormed right next to her; he grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her back to him. "You're not supposed to be here; you're supposed to be in rehab,"_

_"That place was miserable!" Karen snapped, she sat on a stone bench that just happens to be there and Jason sat right next to her. Despite the rock glam style, he knew that pretty, sweet Karen was still in there- floating around in the misery chambers of her soul. "At least I lasted longer than Lohan," She reached into the pockets of her leather jacket and brought out a packet of cigarettes, she took one out and slapped into his hand and took another for herself. "Have a drag for once Jason, stop being so snooty,"_

_Jason let out a reluctant sigh, he smoked twice in his life so far and he was only fourteen, the first was when he was twelve- he and Leo got involved in a gang and they just smoke and vandalized things for the night and the other was when he was half sober from the alcohol because of Thalia's party- no one ever told him the punch was spiked. "Fine if it makes you listen," He took the smoke and Karen tossed him the lighter, he light it up and put it to his lips and wrinkled the nose as the first breath of nicotine entered his nostrils. _

_"Oh Jason," She smirked as she let out the smoke out, "We know this isn't your first time,"_

_"Shut up," Jason snapped, he couldn't stand it anymore. He slammed the cigarette onto the ground and took out the cigarette from her hand and smashed it onto the ground. "Stop it, I'm so sick of this stupid attitude- you're acting like a kid just because your parents' get divorced- go stick your sorry ass somewhere else!" He never meant to sound so angry and he was just so sick of her attitude. _

_She raised her pierced eyebrows, her lips pursed together. Her eyes narrowed, "Sorry if you feel that way," She sniffed and he knew she was holding back tears from what he just said- bringing up her parents. She stormed off and he didn't bother to stop her from doing stupid, he was done with helping her. _

_But if he followed her, maybe he would've stopped her from killing herself. _

He stared at the podium; Hera was wrapping up her warm and welcoming speech and gave Piper another glance. The dark choppy hair seems to return, the eyes flashed into a nice shade of green, her cocoa skin mirrored Karen and her pretty self was almost like Karen. He frowned again, Piper and Karen does looks alike- was this a ghost yelling at him?

Piper caught him staring and she shot back a sweet smile, he blushed a little when she let out a tiny chuckle and smirked. Then the image flashed before his eyes and he saw a dark haired choppy girl with green streaks in her hair and black feathered earrings, dressed in black boots and leather jackets and dark makeup sharing Piper's smirk, she held up a smoke and put it to her soft plum lips and smirked even wider.

_"You're such a tease, Jase," She murmured as she pressed her lips onto his neck, she smelled like nicotine and beer but he didn't care as she smiled at him and cuddle up to him. "Anyways, is Leo coming to Josh's party right?"_

_"Yeah, he is but damn I got wasted last time," Jason groaned as he tucked in a loose strand of purple from her dark hair. _

_"I remember," She giggled. "You were table-dancing half-naked," _

_"My dad practically locked me in a cell," Jason laughed as he held Karen- this was one of Karen's good times, when she was laughing and joking around. 'For smoking and drinking too much,"_

_"I like it when you're such a rebel," Karen laughed as Jason slotted in the movie into the DVD console. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Her smile was so lovely and it almost brought light back to her face. _

Piper smile was still on her face and Jason studied her- she had the smile of a dead girl.

* * *

**I really want to focus more on Jason this time, does it creeps you out how much Piper looks like Karen, Jason's ex who commited suicide? Yeah, I interluded on his past a little. He used to be a rebel, smoking and drinking at the age of 13. Tsk- bad influence. But what do you expect from rich kids who gets nearly everything they want? Hold on, I'm one of them...never mind what I said about rich kids! And don't be too surprised by people drinking at such a young age, it's not like it's impossible. **

**I want to focus more on their past than Killer and finding her, mostly because pasts have lots of link to Killer, while Annabeth and Piper try to restore their social lives- Annie tried to win Percy back and deal with the new stepmother of the wicked west and Piper tried to change her innocent, naive girl next door look so she won't be hurt but will she go off to far to the girly bad side and her past will catch up with her? You know what they say, you can never keep a bad girl down on a leash. Reyna and Jason are dwelving deeper into their lives, figuring things out- Jason the future and what he wants for college, Reyna about her past and her entire life, Leo is trying to decide to get back into the love game and win Reyna back and try their relationship and Luke, poor Luke, gets caught in this gigantic maze. **

**I'm cruel, I know. However, don't own anything except my cool ideas. Don't you love Karen's line on a flashback: At least I lasted longer than Lohan. LOL! DON'T SUE ME!**

**Wink, **

**-Savvy.**


	7. The Ivy

Chapter 7

The Ivy

Idea dribbled in her head as she stared at the empty page right in front of her, "Well?" Leo demanded as she held up her pen- about to write something, pretending to have a great idea and she slammed it back onto the table.

"Can you at least help?" She snapped tiredly, she rubbed her eyes and blocked the tiredness from seeping into her soul- drinking away every waking essence in her body. Drew had been running her dry- now she was regretting every single bit of her decision to join Constance, she thought joining an elite society club would look good on her college application but now it was one of the reasons why she was slacking off in Math and her college grades. Leo's expression turn from pure boredom to a pouty face and she closed her eyes, "God, Leo, I'm so sorry- I never meant to be so mean,"

She smiled at him to make up for her rudeness and sigh, "I'm slacked," She admitted, "No ideas- got some but they're crappy,"

"Hey, crappy ideas are better than no ideas at all," Leo pointed out, "All I know is, and everyone is using the woods to do like a lamer version of the Hunger Games,"

Piper let out a short laugh as she tried to imagine rich kids running around with plastic swords, "So Action and Hunger Games is not an option," She tilt her chin to examined her field to see an idea sparkle in her head. A glimpse of shining blonde hair, neat cuticles for nails, tailored uniform and glossed nails caught her eye and the idea just hit her on the head- it had been right in front of her all this time, how can she had not seen it? "Hey, Leo, would it be a great idea if we do some kind of fiction gossip documentary on Songbird Academy,"

Leo frowned, "It would be probably the most boring movie on the planet,"

"No, don't think movies- think TV," Piper grinned like a maniac; she choked down her second go at her soy latte and wrapped her fingers together in a fist. "People would be hook on juicy lives of rich and smart kids, don't they?"

"Isn't that Gossip Girl?" Leo questioned then he saw Piper's raised eyebrows, "I mean not that I watch it," He added quickly.

"Boarding school," She said the words slowly as she scribbled onto the piece of paper, "Murder of a pretty popular girl," She mumbled notes to herself, "New poor girl comes, circle of people,"

"Piper," He asked, waving his hands in front of her face and she slapped it away from her face. "Hello? Can I get-"

"I'll be back," Piper collected all of her notebooks and pens, "I got some ideas and the script, tell you when I get it for the first episode," Piper waved and made a bee line for her dorm to start writing the script, leaving Leo alone.

* * *

_"Yeah, okay, Jen," Karen Vega laughed her bells-sounding chortle as Jason totted his way into the common room of the old, French boarding school. "Of course I'm visiting and I'm looking forward to see your new friends, so glad you got rid of that annoying Kara girl and my stupid cousin, Tammie," _

_Karen laughed again after hearing the other person spoke onto the speaker, "Okay," Then Karen saw Jason walking in and she said a "Bye," and turn towards him, "Hey Jase, you done your homework?"_

_Twelve going on thirteen Jason Grace groaned, "That's the first thing you say to me is- do your homework?" Karen smirked, her long dark hair all kept together with a nice black headband. She wore a navy Vivienne Westwood cardigan over a collared cream blouse; she wore polished Oxford clogs and plaid skirts. "Someone has to keep you in order," Karen pecked Jason on the cheeks and her eyes narrowed, "Have you been drinking?"_

_"One sip," Jason grinned; he stripped out of his jeans jacket and sat on one of the couch. _

_"You know you'll get expelled,"_

_"But I haven't,"_

_"Are you telling me you drink before?" Karen pursed her lips, crossing her arms together and her emerald eyes flashing. She adjusted her headband- Jason let out a sheepish smile, Karen always have this thing about headbands; it was always her sort of things. A bunch of girls come in, giggling and Karen shot them a death glare, "Out!" She snapped at them. They scurried out of the room faster than Hera can get Thalia off the living room couch. _

_"And I thought you gone soft," Jason shook his head, "And you're not going to chew me out are you?"_

_"No, it's just that- if you keep drinking at this age, sooner or later you'll be in jail," She dropped her phone into the pocket of her cotton plaid skirt. _

_"Who were you talking to?" Jason was anxious to change the subject. _

_"One of my cousin pals that I know better than her," Karen's glowing green orbs flickered for a moment, her beautiful Latino face was crafted gently by an angle and Jason let out a burst of sunshine in side himself, she was the only girlfriend that lasted longer than a month. "Her name's Jennifer, you remember her when we went to the States together- Tammie's friend, the dark haired one," _

_Jason frowned, trying to remember and then there it is! The girl with the most piercing green grey eyes, her dark haired framed her high cheekbone, English, skeletal pale beautiful face, red full lips redder than a strawberry on a hot summer day and a tall, developed body frame that made the boys drool as she walk past. It was _that _Jennifer. "Right, I remember," _

_"Sure you do," Karen's twinkling laugh was the only source of happiness in the long run of his life that time. _

"Remember son, Dartmouth, it's our dream for years." _No, it was just yours. _

"Don't screw this one up, okay?" _I sure as hell would love to._

"You're not drinking that much anymore right?" _I'm getting a crate of beer after this. _

"You look great, son, and now be charismatic- the dean's favorite author is Dan Brown, you do remember reading the Da Vinci Code," _Never touched that book in my life- ever._

Jason look into the mirror stubbornly, he might acted like some angel innocent kid that was hyper obedient to his parents but in his mind and sometimes he take risks. Surprise, surprise- Jason Grace; perfect scholar son of Zeus and Hera Grace took risks. He remembered his years of adolescence when Alison and Karen was around, he usually snuck alcohol around with Leo and Dakota, he even tried smoking- but that was time when he was really pissed or smashed from the highness of his insanity- he didn't know why he did those things, maybe it was the pressure of being perfect all the time. Sometimes he wished he was like Thalia, he didn't want to care about getting good grades, going to the perfect school and he just wanted to sit around and not care what people think.

"Dad, sooner or later, his head is going to bust," Thalia snapped, slamming the Principal's office doors together and stomping in like she always does when she goes to a rock concert. Her choppy dark hair actually got passed her shoulder; it was streaked with blue at the right tip that curled off a little. Dark thick eyeliner highlighted her lightning blue eyes- the only electrified featured they shared, nude glossy lips pulled into a sneer when her dad was turning around and she wore a dark black buster tank with black leather jacket patched with logos from bands like: Rock Mafia, Green Day, Linkin Park, Paramour, Trapt and so on; ripped jeans topped with chain, steel toed boots. "Dad, take a chill pill, preferably some marijuana,"

Jason resisted laughing at his dad's face that turns pale to red faster than a traffic light, "Are you doing drugs, young lady?"

Thalia crashed onto the brown leather couch and place her feet on to the mahogany coffee table, "Half the school is taking a snort," She scoffed as she switched on the cable TV- the channel was BBC and she flipped it to MTV; they were shooting an unplugged song of Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan.

"Thalia, you should be at the Ivy Tea," His dad said, Jason knew that his dad was trying his best to contain his thundering temper.

"I don't want to be around snobby people who walk like they had a stick up their arse," Thalia imitated a snooty, British accent- it was pretty decent, then she eyed her father. "People like you,"

Jason made a beeline for the door, he escaped the place it exploded and climbed the stairs down to the Main Corridor; heading for the courtyard where the Tea was hosted. He readjusted his tie, making it loose and less uptight. Juniors were climbing down the stairs from their floor and onto the Main Hall for their college admission tea party.

They dressed like professionals- to show the colleges that they were materialistic enough for the school. He saw Reyna, hair tightened into a bun, eyes too serious for her age, dressed like her mom in a serious black blazer over a classic white tea dress and she- for once in her life, was wearing black heels. This Ivy thing must mean a hell lot to her.

Jason shot her a kind, quick smile- she didn't return it but she acknowledges it and disappeared into the crowd, he followed the rest of the students out to the courtyard.

The tea was set up delightfully. Long vintage tables were decorated with spring flowers and autumn brown leaves, deans and parents dressed up presentably mingled, refreshments and food laid out for people to eat and students grabbing their chance to do their best. He saw some of his friends having a go at spiking the punch; he smirked at thought of Ivy League school getting the cut because their deans of admission were drunk during a school invitation tea party and spot Karen- Piper.

She wore a chiffon polka dot tie-neck vintage dress along with simple white heels, her hair tied into a high ponytail- she straightened her dark brown red hair and she matched red lips with simple opal earrings. Her hair was tied with a small bow hair tie and her eyes were green- fierce, dark green; the same shade Karen's eyes was when she stormed out of the garden during their last talk and first smoke together.

She was talking to the dean from Brown University; chin tilted high, lips pursed into that smile that drove him crazy, eyes sparkling and skin smooth. He held his breath and Thalia came up to him, her eyes blazed with fire and she thumped him hard on the shoulder, "Don't screw up your future, Golden Boy," Thalia grinned and she shove him towards the tea party. His dad followed Thalia from behind and saw Jason and gave him thumbs up and gesture him to keep on going.

He gritted his teeth; he played the role of the good kid for _way too long. _

His anger was bottled up. The time when people don't take him seriously when he goes to party, the flashbacks when Thalia mocked him of being the teacher's pet, the way how he was so obedient and such a pushover that even he took no for an answer when Piper broke it to him that she didn't want him in her princess life. What kind of _moron _does that? _Give up so easily? Push around so easily? Be a coward? _

_"Jason, lighten up," Karen growled, she pushed the bag of cocaine into his hands. "Prove it to me that you can have fun for once,"_

_"I don't have to prove anything," Jason set his jaw with impertinent stubbornness. _

_"Being a puss?" Karen Vega- now called Karen Hewitt because of her parents' divorce. _

_"Fine," Jason dipped his thumb into the grams of cocaine, "If it means that much to you," He tasted the tasteless drug- why did people like it so much? His head started to clear up, his anger fading and happiness and the high started to settle. He felt happy…but he didn't like it. He never wanted to taste that poison ever again but he was way too prideful to do that._

And now years later, he was still the same.

_So screw the future, _Jason rebelled in his head he took out his tie and threw it to the ground, "I'm done," He said loudly to his father, and then he faced the rest of the tea party- his friends, his future and his life. "I'm dropping out of school," _To do whatever the hell I want._

* * *

**OOC of Jason to drop out of school? Yeah, probably but I really don't care. Anyway, I'm so pissed...why? Well, I've been waiting for those Cherub books for like ages. Have anyone read them? They're pretty damn good, and I have a slight crush on James. James Freaking Adam...sigh. And I've been reading the Gone series too...BUT I LOVED THE CHERUB SERIES! I just got into them...I want Maximum Security...damn you, random friend. This is mainly on Jason's past and problems. Then we'll get to this mess: Percy/Rachel/Luke/Annabeth and something bad will happen as in this bad- ding, dong, the witch is dead bad. **

**Well, you know how nice I get with killing characters off. **

**Wink,**

**-Savvy.**


	8. Killers Never Prosper

Chapter 8

Killers never prosper, do they?

_"I'm dropping out of school,"_

_I still cared about that idiot. Damn it. _

"I'm so sorry for the latest outburst," Hera covered it up quickly, "please let's go to refreshment area, food is being served.

Piper remained a smile but she can't help thinking about Jason's dramatic leave, she know about the resentment Jason buried under all that goody-two-shoes-ness but she never knew it was that massive that it cause him to actually _drop out of school. _

Drew hurried towards her; she yanked Piper's hand and pulls her aside from the crowd. Drew's expression was hungry, still shocked but greedy. "Do you know anything about this?" Drew hissed quietly.

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, honey," Drew snapped, her smeared bronze eye shadow was the only un-bold makeup on her face- maybe it was the shine time for the bright hot pink lipstick that contrasted with the sheer pink chiffon blouse and white knee length skirt. With the loose pin up bun and retro clogs, she looked like some sort of Asian movie star dated back in the retro '50s. "Do you have any idea why Jason drops out of school?"

"Beats me, we aren't dating anymore," Piper retorted angrily.

"Right," Drew drawled out sarcastically, "But you must have something,"

"Well there is some hating with his father, but nothing that major to make him drop out of school- at least that's what I thought," Piper shrugged, she eyed Drew carefully as Drew smirk at this information- knowing her, Drew would be posting this piece of information on the discreet school gossip site. Piper knew Jason wouldn't care much on Piper releasing that information because mainly he doesn't care about the school gossip anymore considering the fact that he wasn't in the school anymore.

"Interesting," Drew inspected her glossy neat nails, "You make a good spy, Mclean,"

"Uh, thank…I guess,"

"However what I'm really surprise at is that Sparky's bad old ways are coming back," Drew smiled secretly towards Piper, whose eyebrows creased together. What did she meant by Sparky's bad old way coming back? Even though they dated for a year, Jason knew all about her but she didn't knew much about his history.

"What do you mean?" Piper narrowed her eyes, why was Drew telling her about Jason' history when Jason didn't?

"You never knew?" Drew's mocking laugh made her feel like a ridiculous girl- _ex-girlfriend. _"Didn't he tell you he got involved in drugs, gangs, smoking and drinking when he was in middle school because of his suicide-committed ex-girlfriend?"

_His ex-girlfriend committed suicide? That _gotta be hard, now reflecting back on Jason she realized she was a whiny, annoying pain in this ass when Jason had been hefting around this pain in his life for years but the things that was really brain-rattling was the smoking, alcohol, gang and _drugs…_Piper knew she went far with theft and alcohol but _drugs? _Piper knew she was stupid when she was younger but she had limits.

"What kind of drugs?" She asked carefully, seeing Drew's smug face when she saw Piper' horrified expression.

"Class A, cocaine, heroin, blah, blah,"

_"Class A?" _Piper nearly choked on her spit, Class A drugs were the most dangerous drugs out of all the drugs. They were illegal for a reason.

"Uh huh, you seriously need to update info on your beau, hon,"

"He's not my _beau," _Piper gritted her teeth, her mind still dizzy on the fact that her ex-boyfriend had problems. Why? Because he was always the squeaky clean, good little blonde boy in her eyes- in everybody's eyes, now hearing about Jason in this sort of angle was a first and…disturbing.

"That's what you said," Drew flipped her hair back as she started to walk towards the crowd.

Even trying to convince Drew that she was over and done with Jason was hard, surely she was obvious enough to show that she wasn't with him and she wasn't hung up over him- but first she had to convince herself.

* * *

Annabeth thought her college chances of getting in was pretty high, she chatted with the King College Dean of Admission for a while about architecture, her favorite building structures and her favorite interests; considering the fact that Annabeth did it twice it made her more depressing but her mood lighten up when he saw who was at the cafe where all the people was hanging out- especially Percy and Rachel.

Luke had grown- he was still towering over her with that 6'5 foot body frame of his, his blonde hair was a shorten version of the shaggy blonde mop over his head, his big _blue _eyes was crystal clear and he gotten tanner. "Annabeth," He breathes out loud and all the girls at the next table giggled. _Idiots, _Annabeth thought as she settled down on the seat.

"So you did come after all," Annabeth replied shortly as she ordered her drink.

"You doubted I would come?"

"Well, after meeting you in San Francisco library, I thought you didn't want to see me anymore," Annabeth admitted guiltily. Percy and Rachel just walked in to the café and Rachel's mouth made an 'o' when she saw who Annabeth was.

"Actually, I was surprised you even called," Luke smiled that playful smile that made her heart fluttered. "You know after Silena…"

"We don't need memories," Annabeth snapped and she realized she was being cold to him for no utter reason at all. "I'm sorry; I'm just stressed about everything,"

"It's okay," Luke quickly said. "I heard about your setback,"

"Great," Annabeth blew the strand of blonde hair away from her face, "Does the whole world seriously know that Annabeth Madelyn Chase failed junior year?"

"Just the entire cluster of colleges and other schools like Dalton and Constance noticed," Luke joked and Annabeth let out a groan and he chuckled. "It's just I was shocked, junior year was easy and I thought you would own it but guess not…" He smirked at Annabeth's furious expression.

"Shut up!" She huffed as the waiter delivered the drinks onto their table. She took a long large gulp of her drink and let the soft coffee washed the bitter taste out and she saw Percy's skeptical expression directed towards her.

"Anyway, how is everything with the death-"

"I'm shutting up, Luke," Annabeth breathe in the soft autumn breeze as she tucked in the silver gray knit jacket around her white tank that says: **Geek out while you can! **It was an eco-fabricated top from Anthropology, a pair of patterned Aztec black and white leggings and black platform boots.

"Good," Luke said too quickly, his eyes darting in and out slowly between her and the space between her eyes, "So why haven't your boyfriend punch the lights out of me yet?"

Annabeth pressed her lips together and saw Percy's sea breeze eyes' turned towards them for a moment and she gave Luke a dazzling smile, "We broke up," She shrugged, trying to act very casual about it whereas when they broke up she was a lonely wreck, reading books all summer.

"Oh," Luke blinked, "I'm so sorry,"

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth lied forcefully, "I'm focusing on the future which is you and me,"

* * *

_"Reyna, hey, I just want to tell you that I really do appreciate the times we were together and working together on well- you know, but this is goodbye," _The voice in her voicemail paused for a plausible moment, "_Have a good life,"_

Now thinking about that little blonde boy…she wonder through memories- she always have this nagging irritation about him.

_Thirteen year old Reyna was forced to swallow down her feelings of blinding rage from the recent argument she had with Jennifer earlier and endure a nice peaceful dinner with the Graces. The Graces and the Whites had been leaguing friends ever since the 16th Century. They organize debutant balls, planned charity pieces and have been in the same boat with politics for a long time. Normally she forced herself to be nice to shallow, superficial people but the Graces- their kids weren't bad. Thalia was funny and cool, there was something that Reyna loved about her- the way how she never let her parents control her and do things how she wanted to do it awe her to be a little rebellious sometimes. _

_Then there was Jason. There was something about him that she could relate to him, was it the glint in his eyes that was begging to be free from the world of aristocrats? Free to choose his path? Or maybe he just had a whiff on marijuana on him all the time. _

_The clean, cookie-cutter boy was nice, sweet and distant- his eyes fixed on Reyna, but his mind was literally somewhere else. _

_She always wonder what. _

* * *

"Hey dad," Reyna greeted as she enter the friendly slums of home, but it didn't feel the same as it always is. Living in the same house for all these years and that friendly, yawning feeling wasn't the same- it wasn't the same. Now she knew she really wasn't part of the family, everything and everybody she ever knew in the White family seems so distant to her now.

"Reyna," Mr. White was a very simple man. Even though Reyna knew him all her life, all she knows about him was he was a quiet man who likes poetry, classical music and good wine. And that was just a thumbnail sketch- that was all she knew, also that he often go on long business trips. "How nice of you to drop by,"

Reyna hung her black coat onto the coat hanger by the doorway and walked into the kitchen. Her father was sitting on the spinning chair with his laptop on the kitchen island and a steaming mug of black coffee propped onto a counter right next to it. Reyna's father was handsome, not the friendly father type but his face seems fit to play a big, worldly king in a movie like Lord of the Rings. He wore a simple crisp white shirt; tasseled olive brown trousers with olive weaved leather loafers. "Yeah, I needed to get my Dell laptop because my mac crashed and it wouldn't be out of the repair store until next month so," Reyna shrugged casually, she thought through the right excuse to come home at the time like this and she felt like she did a good job with it.

She climbed the stairs quickly; she remembered the directions from Killer: _Daddy's bedside table, sweetie. _Somehow Killer now reminded her of that psychotic sweet children-eating witch in the story of _Hansel and Gretel, _sweet and nice yet sick in the head. She took one more glance at her dad who was quietly typing away on his computer and she hesitated before charging ahead to her parents'- _adopted _parents' bedroom. Knowing she was fully betraying them, she had to find out and she _couldn't _be disappointed by the details…right?

Then halfway up, she felt like asking herself. _Is it right to break into my own's parents room? _Because the last time she check, Reyna White does not break in and enter. Or steal or be a sneaking snitch. Reyna White was a valedictorian student with top grades and has a full range of different sort of leadership activities to do. She was known to be a sticker to rules and a bit of a person who can't have fun and her reputation in school was known to be a good girl who like to keep people in line- hence the nickname Reyna Rules.

But that was Reyna White, now she was Regina Brown and she was starting to get scared that she was morphing into someone like Jennifer. This was what Jennifer would've done...and she suddenly realize that she was so different now. She can't indulged in second thoughts, she needs information.

She rushed to open the bedroom door; inspecting the room to make sure no one was in there and then she crept in and shut the door behind her.

The bedroom was a typical, modern room. There was a balcony blocked by two glass sliding panels used as doors, the king size bed was holding up with an oak bedframe and the sheets were beige silky cream embroidered with Chinese sequins and dragon patterns.

There was a vanity dresser at one corner and a white cabinet at the other. The floor was wooden; it creaked quite loudly as Reyna stepped to make her way across the room to the bedside table. She crouched down and rattled the knob on the bedside table. It was lock, Reyna wasn't fazed at this. She reached into her bag pack, brought out the metallic lock gun, clasped it around the knob and picked it open.

The knob didn't budge and Reyna sucked in a quick breath of panic. Her hands clumsily fumbled around the lock gun to readjust it and tried again. A satisfying click came on and Reyna could breathe carefully again. The drawer slide out easily and Reyna eyes nearly spun in her head when she what was in there.

There was a handgun lying in the wooden drawer, she run her fingers on the gun and wonder what the hell was a gun sitting right next to her father. She saw a bunch of other papers that looked a little dated, and a Ziploc bag and inside was a clean, silver o.18 mm bullet. She took the paper and scanned through right those.

They were letters, she didn't have time to read those so she did a quick inspection and she turned the papers to the back.

In dark red marker pen, a handwritten note was waiting for her:

**One step ahead of you, Regina. **

**-Killer.**

* * *

**I'm mad...no one reviewing these days. What's the point of writing now? **

**I lost at least half of my favouritees and alerters...**

**That's so SAD!**

**REVIEW. NOW. **

**Have anyone actually read the Cherub series? If you haven't, go and read it if you're into spy stuff...though the language and content might be a little mild. If you read it, tell me what you think. ;) **

**Unhappy wink, **

**-Savvy.**


	9. All Ice, No Fire

Chapter 9

All Ice, No Fire

Piper was getting even more worried about Jason.

No calls, no text messages, no emails- no _frigging nothing, _and all Piper could think about was the horrors of what might've happen to him. He could be homeless on the street, he could be starving to death- he might even be dead by now.

She sighed in frustration as she turn over in her bed, her multi-colored eyes flickered upwards- in the next bed was one of Drew's brainwashed cronies; her blonde hair sprayed around the pillow and her aristocrat face was crafted beautifully as if the artist took time thinking how to frame the high cheekbones and the arched eyebrows; the girl was a blonde, paler Californian version of Reyna. What was her name again? Maya, Mia- whatever, her life doesn't depend of figuring out the name.

Stupid, stubborn ass of a Grace.

Gah, everything was his fault in the first place. He wanted to be rebellious- not to be in control, for a moment she was proud of him standing up to his father like that- he always felt thumbed down but dropping out of school was too far out of bounds.

She heard some footsteps echoed on the marble floor, she cocked her ears for a moment but she nearly jumped out of her bed, flailing out and doing a best attempt at a karate kick when Drew tapped her on the shoulder. "What the hell?" Piper scowled at Drew when she picked herself up the ground and saw Drew all dressed up- she wore a slinky gold sexy halter dress with high gold tinted heels.

"Party," Drew said with her usual bored drawl whenever she saw Piper. "Are you going to come?"

Piper glanced at the alarm clock behind her- it was three minutes past twelve. "What party?" Piper grumbled, still miffed from the recent scare and fall.

"Party," Drew repeated, she walked towards her bed and bend down to open her trunk. Piper rubbed her eyes as she peered carefully at what Drew was taking out and then Drew threw her a shiny, black _thing. _

Piper held it out and it appears to be a shiny black top, "Um…" Piper trailed off.

"I take a look in your closet, much better than I expected but no party dresses," Drew said in mock horror.

"Oh okay, I'll go get my skinny jeans," Piper bent down to get her jeans from her trunk but Drew stopped her before she can even insert her hand into her mahogany trunk.

"It amazes me how you're so ignorant about fashion when your mother is one of the top designers in the world," Drew snorted in a very unladylike fashion, Drew's gold shiny dress was tiny- but it curved her body nicely and glammed up her tanned, olive complexion beautifully. Her dark hair was chopped into a sexy, wavy sort of rock-ish very messy bob but the messiness was what makes it attractive. "It isn't a top, it's a _dress,"_

Piper's mouth slacked open, staring agape at the tiny _dress _sitting on her bed =. "It's a dress," She said slowly.

"Yeah, now we figured that out with your amazingly slow brain," Drew said in a bored tone while Piper shot her a warning glare. "Hurry the hell up," The corners of Drew's smile curled up, "I heard Sparky's gonna be there,"

* * *

_2 years ago…_

"Why am I still here?" Sixteen year old Annabeth Chase asked herself quietly, she was a sophomore at a fancy school that had amazing education values and she was doing things that could get her expelled now.

"It's no biggie, Annie," Her boyfriend, Luke Castellan- a junior, slurred drunkenly as the booming music pumping in their ears as she crossed her arms disapprovingly. The only reason why she came to the party was because she was afraid he would do something stupid…

She left his side, disgusted by his drunken state- if he wasn't going to listen to her about not drinking too much. Screw it. Screw him.

Let him rot.

But when she was at the front of the school, she was only confronted by her guilt by leaving Luke in a midst of high school seniors from the public school not too far away from the Academy and leaving him there alone drunk.

She went back of course, cursing for receiving herself the guilt trip and knowing full well she would've succumbed to it. "Luke," She called out over the noise and the screaming public school kids. "Luke," She stepped past the keg of cheap beer, and tried to pin out a head of shaggy blonde hair.

"Hey Blondie," A drunken, goatee-sporting public high school kid slurred at her when she walked past, "Want a drink?"

"Piss off," She snarled dangerously and heard a desperate note in her voice of no hope of trying to find her drunken boyfriend, she ran towards the other clearing of trees and heard raise voices in the other corner.

Foul curses sprayed all over the place, Luke's voice screamed out and Annabeth ran towards it; hoping he'll be okay. Through the thick trees in a quiet corner; the only thing to be heard was Luke's angry voice and another one belonging to someone else; as angry as Luke.

When she got there, two boys were in a heated, drunken fight- punches were being thrown and Luke's face was a mass of blood and his nose was broken. The other boy was on the ground, lying in a shady heap filled with leaves and his body twisted in a rather awkward position and he was dead- lying in the ravine; dead.

Annabeth's throat constricted, the last person who she seen dead; lying with the legs twisted like this was Zoe Nightshade and it was a sheer miracle she wasn't panicking like she did last time. She got a slight flashback of Zoe's pretty face, dark hair and cocoa skin then she tugged at Luke's hand angrily and glared at him. "What the hell, Luke?"

"I-" He paused, blinking and his mind was reeling. "I'm-"

_Never mind that, just leave! _She was determined to protect Luke, "Let's go," She gripped his hand like a vice and pull him, knowing that she has to leave the crime scene.

Subconsciously, she prepared to leave but she was cornered by none other than Bianca Di Angelo, who curled her lips softly and her dark eyes search deep into Annabeth's gray ones. Bianca was dressed in a simple black tee and shorts; she gave Luke the third degree as she scanned him slowly and smiled mysteriously. "Going somewhere?"

Annabeth's heart thudded loudly against her chest as she managed a plausible, small smile, "We're going back," She lied nervously, "As you can see we have a bit of a drunk accident," She said humorlessly; pointing towards Luke.

"Oh well, you better go," An amusing glint twinkled in Bianca's eyes.

* * *

"I know you hate Jennifer and I do too," Bianca whispered to Zoe during Assembly, "And so far she thinks I'm part of her clique but what are you going to-"

"Quiet!" Zoe beckoned Bianca to shut up, "Not too loud…" She hissed softly to Bianca.

"You have never forgiven her after what she did to you," Bianca said sympathetically.

"Of course," Zoe's face reddened as her whisper it out; her eyes avoiding Bianca's and her fingers quivering in anger. Bianca didn't really minded Jennifer when she first moved to Philadelphia; she just seems to be another mindless mean girl- high typical.

But how wrong she was; Jennifer wasn't just a mean girl. She was the devil disguise as a pretty girl, she was a scheming, plotting, vindictive, evil little bitch who ruined Zoe's life; even though Zoe was one of Jennifer good friends.

Bianca thought it was seriously heartless to sneak out information from your own friend- Zoe and then spread out their secret right round the community; not to mention teasing them about it. It had been a week ever since Zoe was labeled as the Female Faggot- it was mostly Jennifer's fault. Bianca's stomach clenched at the thought of what might happen if Jennifer ever got hold of evidence linking Bianca and Jennifer's very-kind, sweet brother Kadden's forbidden relationship…oh god, and she didn't even want to think about it.

She had never felt such hate for someone before…especially after what the bitch did to Nico; her stomach clenched at that bottomless pitch of hate for Jennifer. She didn't envy Jennifer's beauty; she could be as pretty, just as charismatic, just as adoring- but the chess and mind games Jennifer kept playing with everyone…even her friends.

She liked Annabeth and Reyna well enough; sure they were BFFs with Jennifer but they were reluctant to be her mind-wielding puppet and do whatever she wants. They had a reluctant, slightly hesitant relationship with Jennifer whereas Piper was like some dumb donkey under the command of Jennifer; Piper was nice, sweet and gentle. Bianca scowled at the thought of how Jennifer was manipulating all of them…

But first things first, she had to play the new and nice girl.

* * *

Much to Reyna's astonishment; she couldn't believe that there have been high school parties lounging around the forest (where Tammie's death has taken place) with public school kids.

She only realize this when she was catching up on homework; she never meant to left it that long ago but she was so caught up with finding her past up and the secret of why, _dear god-_why was she adopted by the Whites and why did the Browns gave her up; that she had completely left her schooling duties behind and also because Leo came knocking on the door; accidentally informing her about it.

"'Sup, Rey-Rey," He greeted cheerfully as she rushed over to open the door; she was shocked to see him in baggy jeans and ripped t-shirts. The teachers would get a seizure if you were dressed like that on school grounds, "Ready for the party?"

Reyna blinked, perplexed. "What party?"

"Oh right," He finally remembered, "No one ever tells you about it because you're a prefect,"

Reyna's ears sharpened, her eyes narrowed in hostility and her face was deadly calm, "Excuse me?" She barked softly. Her eyes were a ray of angry colorful colors, her face livid and her lips pursed in controllable anger.

"I meant that- uh," Leo was quaking in his converse as the furious brunette glared lividly at him, "Uh…"

"That we never tell you what goes on in the secret Songbird Academy social calendar because A) you're a blabbermouth, B) you're as fun as Ms. Hera and C) We all pretend to like you so you won't get us kick out of here," Travis Stoll smirked at her as he appeared by her door way; she glowered fiercely at him and his bottom lip barely trembled.

She made a mental note to herself to sharpen up on her glares.

"Stoll," Reyna spat out the name harshly, her face lighting up with pure rage and to stop herself from getting in trouble and landing a large punch on Travis's face to wipe off that sarcastic smug little smirk she crossed her arms tightly. "Detention for two weeks,"

"I'm shaking," He rolled his eyes.

A thin grim line appeared on Reyna's hostile face; Leo kept biting his lips nervously as he watch the conflict roll forward. "I'll put in a vote to get you out of your scholarship," She said dangerously; eyes flashing furiously. One of the dirty tricks she had learned from Jennifer was know how to root out people weaknesses and point it to them.

Travis's eyes widened, "You wouldn't,"

"I would," Reyna said breezily; she tied her hair up in her usual braid and got out of her room; she raised an eyebrow at the boys as they stared in agape at her.

She smoothed down her t-shirt and turn back; the boys were still there, "Well, aren't we going for the party?" Her tone colder than ice; Reyna turned back and head down the stairs at the end of the corridor with Leo and Travis right behind her heels.

He heard Leo muttered proudly, "The girl is all ice, no fire,"

* * *

"Nico, Nico, are you okay?" Bianca whispered quietly as she clutched her brother's cold fingers; her eyes dry from the tears that had flooded down her wet, salty olive pale cheeks and her irises bloodshot and brown.

The slow, steady beat of the machine was still going on; he was still alive. Thank god, he was still alive but he was in a terrible state. His eyes has dark bags underneath, his body was sickly and skinny (but that was normal), his pale olive skin was sallow and sunken and his hair was a messy mass.

Her stomach felt heavy and so did her heart; her sisterly instinct were making here feel that way. Nico was annoying sure…but she never wanted to see him hurt. He was only eleven and he was so small…

She glanced up; her dark hair pressed against her scalp as the door creaked open and a girl with dark hair and silvery emerald eyes came into the room, her lips ruby red and her skin ivory and pale. Jennifer Brown entered the room in a brisk manner, dressed in a simple black top and skinny jeans with slouchy boots. "How is he?"

"Like you care," Bianca spat, all of the worry for Nico dissipated- it was replaced by a column of hate, fury and unadulterated fear. Her last time with Jennifer ended in an argument due to the usual subjects- Jennifer's torture on the poor little weaklings of the kids that attended the same school with her, the monarchy rule 'Queen Bee' and her amazing control of manipulation over her friends- Annabeth, Reyna and Piper. It send her storming back home, filled with angst and made her kick and destroy some of the possessions she owned to vent out her teenage anger.

But the hours later, she found Nico in his room…unconscious on the floor and for a horrid moment…she thought he was…dead.

"Of course I do," Jennifer said simply, pushing her dark hair off her pretty face as she neared Bianca. Jennifer approached Bianca carefully, Bianca hesitated for a moment; she eyed Jennifer slowly and they were all walking stiffly towards each other as if they were afraid to go near each other. Of course, they row about ten times a day, they sabotage each other in competitions (like during the Spring Disco, Bianca poured honey all over Jennifer's hair during their sleepover right before the day and Jennifer setting fire to Bianca's dress) and they often sniped and was against each other in competitions…"I know what it's like to have dysfunctional siblings,"

"Nico is not dysfunctional!" Bianca said hotly, her walls up again as she defended her annoying, irritating but loving younger brother.

Nico stirred a bit in his sleep but he let the girls (mostly Bianca) quarrel, Jennifer raised an eyebrow and gave her a pity look, "Are you sure?" Jennifer sounded sorry, polite and…sincere. She sounded kind and caring like she knew exactly…

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked sharply, her dark brown eyes surveying Jennifer as she stared at Nico; her light green eyes held an odd expression.

"Have you ever wondered how the hell Nico was unconscious?" Jennifer pointed out logically. Now That Jennifer mentioned it…she never did; she was too busy pondering on Jennifer and Nico's safety. She never bother to investigate…Jennifer made her feel like an idiot.

"What do you know about it?" Bianca asked snidely, though she tried to tone down the hardness in her voice.

"Drugs," Jennifer rubbed her wrist uncomfortably, "Nico was involved in them, and he got a seizure fit from the intake of cocaine,"

Bianca lips turned dry, she knew Nico ever since he was born and held him when he was a baby, he was an innocent kid; he wouldn't- never- do that or go near it. If Bianca had a choice, Nico would never even know what cocaine is. Nico wouldn't take it, she refused to believe it- especially anything that came out of Jennifer's mouth, "I don't believe you,"

"Oh Di Angelo," Jennifer said dryly, knotting her hair up. "You're stubborn as a mule- one of the things I grudgingly admire about you, but you're in denial and I of all the people should know about Nico having drugs,"

"Again I asked how would you know?"

"My brother deals drugs," Jennifer waved the fact aside like it was no big deal. "Kadden dearie is involve in a gang around Philly, you'll be surprised how many 'perfect' people would pay for a gram of cocaine," She snorted at the last bit. "I do some deliveries once in a while, it pays well enough," Jennifer smiled fondly.

"B-b-but he wouldn't!" Bianca begin protesting, "He would never, Nico's innocent- he's my baby brother for god's sake,"

Jennifer gave Bianca one of her surprisingly polite sorry looks, "You think you know the person that well but they always surprise you in the end, Di Angelo," Another fleeting pause that made Bianca's chest heaved and pang with a building hurt that her brother would be stupid enough to get involve in stuff like that- half of her still didn't believe Jennifer; it could be one of her lies to wind her up; but the other half- judging by Jennifer's tone- believe her, "I would know,"

* * *

**Before you explode at me for my imperfect timing of updating; here is my excuse. **

**No, not homework. Ya know that feeling when you're like...bleh, I can't write at this moment...read HP fanfics...Yeah. I was like writing up to 1, 425- I think when I reread it then I was like BLAH! This sucks, and I rewrote the whole thing in the past thirty minutes. **

**So I realize I spend two weeks writing absolute rubbish and thirty minutes writing a passably good fanfiction. **

**It's a pleasant feeling; but I guess the only reason why I manage to buzz in to writing it is because I just drink an entire mug of coffee and sugar and the amount of fat I indulge myself in from all the fat from my class party...sugar and caffeine can do wonders to you; you notice?**

**Also, my school year has ended and one of my besties has gone off to another continent- leaving me in a teary situation...you American lots are mocking me with your wonderful school year and I'm off to camp for like a week so I won't be updating for a while. **

**I'm quite surprise I can make Jennifer seem human in this chapter...all this time I thought her as Lord Voldermort...but she must have a heart some where...DEEP DOWN. **

**To CC: HI! I'm so glad I don't have to call you 'Anonymous reviewer'. I DID mention Piper would be OOC in this fic, sorry if it gone too out of the boundaries...I'll try to wedge her to be more Piper-like (is that a word? No I think not), my writing is far from perfect. True, but I guess we all improve as we move along, eh? I'm sorry if I give you the vibe of me pegging you as a 'flamer'. I don't really, I just don't get it- if you dislike the story or how I project the characters or my writing, why bother reading it? **

**I don't want to be the type of writer that force people to read my stuff, honestly but I will force my readers to do one thing and that is...REVIEW! **

**Love and curse you (sarcastic), **

**-Savvy.**


	10. Simply Shocking

Chapter 10

Simply Shocking

She was so anxious to see him again, she wondered if he was fine…then she scolded herself for thinking about him.

She made a promise to herself, she wouldn't think of him again, she wouldn't think about relationships this year- she wanted to focus on her studied, and over with the fact that it was SATs year; she wanted good grades.

After a heated argument with Drew about what to wear, Piper won the argument so instead of wearing the _dress, _she wore a simple knotted plaid vest t-shirt, a pair of cherry red skinny jeans, Aztec western style boots, a black suede fringe bag, black glass cuff on her arm, and a jeans vest. Her hair knotted into a side fishtail braid.

Riding in a taxi with Drew was beyond uncomfortable; it was basically the win of an awkward situation. Being in the same car with the girl who she use to hate (and Piper was pretty sure somewhere along the lines the feeling was mutual) and in the same car with her and her friends were odd…it also strike an icy silence in the taxi when the driver took them at the edge of the forest.

After the excruciating taxi ride, Piper practically kicked open the taxi door for air- and also to get some space and _away_ from Drew and her cronies. Her feet stumbled upon to the unsteady tarmac and she got up; but ruffled and feeling rather clumsy.

They all gather themselves off and head into the forest, Piper could hear the rhythmic thump of the rock beat and the slash of a guitar riff and memories from the last school year flashed into her head as she stepped onto the familiar ground.

She sniffed into the clean air and a pang of nausea hit her, over at the corner she saw the over-large oak tree hidden and cloaked by the dark but seen faintly with the taxi's yellow headlights- her heart constricted when she saw that tree, it was where Jason's car was parked at during the confrontation with Tammie- it was when he kissed her again; actually it was more like a heated make-out session, his soft wet lips were parting her dry flaky lips and kissing away the hot tears that rolled off Piper's soft skin; the emotion has bubbled all over her face and burst out- leaving her in an emotional wreck. It was also the night when her beautiful young daughter (or sister because Aphrodite had adopted Jennifer and considering the fact that her brand new adopted sister was actually her daughter…she tried not to think about it) Jennifer.

Feeling rather morbid, she entered the forest a little more with hesitation and a little later than the others. She was jumpy around this forest, all the weird creatures scampering under any hidden dark corner and the overgrown large wild bush had often scared her…not to mention, and this was where Tammie frigging _died. _She shivered in anticipation, she was starting to really regret coming to the party…

The echoing faint cheers and music and drunken laughers were getting louder, the chilly September air was intoxicated with the party mood but it wasn't the mood Piper was really in, instead Piper felt annoyed and yet miserable at the same time. Annoyed at Drew and her cronies who shrieked an wailed in agony every time they stepped onto soggy mud about getting their clothes ruin (_Honestly, _Piper thought in sheer irritation) and miserable because she now really want to be back in her room, wrapped in fancy quilts and sheets, safe and sound. Being back at the woods reminded her of Killer, Tammie and last year's events- her face darkened as she thought about Terri Evans death; a lot of people might have thought her of a loud-mouth, tactless bitch (Piper admit Terri was a bit like that) but what Piper really saw in Terri was that Terri was a girl who like to be outspoken and speak out her mind- it inspired Piper to be less shy around strangers. That was why she was the most affected to Terri's death, in a way Terri was a good friend.

And seeing Terri's body twisted in a mangle mess, blood splattered out of her broken limbs and her insides spilling out onto the school's perfect and clean pebbled pavements- Terri Evans splattered on the ground like spaghetti, dead. It was one of the scariest and daunting moments in her life, it nearly took her back to the time when Jennifer, Annabeth, Reyna and her (Well, it was mostly on Jennifer's fault) pushed Zoe into that ditch.

Zoe and Jennifer…and Bianca…that was an interesting group, most of the times Reyna and Annabeth were irritable with Jennifer because of her actions and Piper had to admit, blackmailing Bianca into backing out of the competition from being 'Queen Bee' with her forbidden love affair with Kadden (who Bianca obviously cared for and considering over the small crush Piper had harbored over him; Piper surprisingly found out she didn't really care) and leaking the rumor (or secret, Piper never bother to ask Jennifer whether it was true or not) that Zoe was lesbian and turning the whole community against Zoe (their little town in Philadelphia was very anti-homosexuals) because Zoe told her off and of course, snubbing a thousand of other poor weaklings was out of order for Jennifer but everyone made mistakes.

And that often ends up with Reyna or Annabeth (sometimes both) blowing up at her, scoffing at how innocent and naïve minded she was. Despites those horrible things Jennifer had made her, Piper Mclean- daughter of famous Tristan Mclean, feels wanted. All her life, she felt secluded from the outside world and social gatherings that kids _her age _experience. She was sent to private schools, expected to have a snobby attitude and a snooty prejudice mind against people and she was pampered with all the things girls will kill for. But of course, daughter of a movie star, having all of those things come with a price. Her father was rarely around; she barely had anyone to talk to and during her years with Jennifer was the only time she felt…her. Piper Mclean making a name for her, finally feeling herself for once in her life and she wasn't known as the daughter of Tristan Mclean. She was Piper Mclean, Jennifer's right handed gal, she was one of _them, _she was the _It _girls, one of the pretty faces noticeable and she was the sweet one of the group.

Jennifer had made her known to the world, well at least in Piper's world.

The party was of course larger than Piper expected, she was expecting just Songbird Academy but they were some other faces who were unfamiliar. "Who are the other kids?" She asked Drew with a slight frown as a drunken kid nearly vommited at her.

Drew wrinkled her nose as she stepped far away from the vomit, "They're from the public high school around here," She looked slightly green at the thought of 'public school kids'. Piper perked up at the thought of those public school kids- wait, dis she just thought 'public school kids'? Piper nearly chided herself for saying that term to describes those kids. All her life she had been put in private schools filled with snobby kids and she always wonder how does public high school kids act? Was it like every single stereotypical high school movie on school groups being classified like some food chain?

Piper let her idea slipped out of her mind, it was a party! She should try to have some fun and pushed all of her worries away…she should stop being such a worrywart; she was never much of a worrywart before she studied at Songbird Academy, Piper realized for a moment- well, at least she know it's all Killer's fault.

Her good mood has vanished immediately as a handsome blonde with forget-me-not blue eyes stepped through the clearing where hundreds of young teenage bodies were mingling each other as mainstream songs pound out of the radio. It was Jason, looking quite well, dressed in a rugged denim jacket, his Levi's has patches of dust on it (but that was normal) and a simple light brown faded top. Piper tried to hide her blush at her neck and the wave of memories climbing up and down the memory lane in her head.

She forced herself to look anywhere but _him. _She didn't want to bring back all those memories of hurt, of how he picked saving his own hide over her. She spun to another area where the keg was, Piper was exercising control over her intake of alcohol (she knew from personal experience that it was no picnic having a hangover when she have to take lessons, especially since it was SATs year for her…) and only sipped the cheap beer quietly.

She saw glimpses of Reyna with Leo and a huge crowd of people surrounding her as she chatted to them unenthusiastically with a bored expression on, though a small smile curled at the corners of her lips. That scene reminded her so much of Jennifer, every time at a party Jennifer, Annabeth, Reyna and Piper would be flocked by people and most of the time the conversation directed to Jennifer, who answered with a bored but slightly amused expression on her face. The similarities of Jennifer and Reyna had together created shivers down her spine…

Reyna's dark hair was wrapped in another side braid and her cold eyes didn't catch sight of Piper, so Piper carry on with surveying the crowd.

She also Bianca hanging around some of the high school kids but most of the time Bianca has a sharp eye kept on Nico's drinking habits, and Annabeth was at the corner, one hand firmly on a red cup filled with beer and an arm looped around a college blonde boy Piper never seen before (who knew Annabeth had a taste in older men?), Percy and Rachel was chatting animatedly with their friends but Percy's seething eyes kept sliding to Annabeth and College Blonde Boy as if he was secretly furious with Annabeth dating another boy which Piper found unfair because wasn't it Percy was the one who _broke up _with her first?

Piper made a grunt under her breath; she was planning to stay out of much drama this year…and then she got a Butterfly Crush blog post signal from her phone. All of the female population of the party (yes, even the high school kids follow the blog) had whipped out their phones, and gasped and stared at the said victims of this post.

Sighing softly, Piper read today's Butterfly Crush blog:

**_Aren't we having so much fun? The day when all of the classes in social hierarchy bond together! However, we have already drawn out the odds of who was who and what was what last year…ah, such a memorable year!_**

**_Class Slut: Piper Mclean_**

**_Class Loser: Annabeth Chase_**

**_Class Whore: Reyna White_**

**_Class Lonely Boy: Leo Valdez_**

**_Class No-Longer Quarterback: Jason Grace_**

**_Class New Boy: Percy Jackson_**

**_Class Most Dysfunctional couple: Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase_**

**_Class Most Unpredictable couple: Reyna White and Leo Valdez_**

**_Class Couple Most likely to get Pregnant: Piper Mclean and Jason Grace_**

**_That'll be all, right?_**

**_I'm sure this year will be much more fun._**

**_-Drew, Butterfly Crush Head Blogger._**

Piper seethed in annoyance, the whole 'Class couple most like to get pregnant' one was obviously pitch in there so that Drew can annoy the hell out of her but there is no way Piper is going to confront Drew for _that, _she will give no satisfaction to Drew. Switching off the phone, some of the teenagers and classmates of hers smirked at her after reading the post but she just shot them dirty looks.

"Hey, you're okay?" Jason asked, worried. Piper was so wrapped up in Drew and her irritating Butterfly Crush blog post that she didn't see Jason making his way too her. "You look angry,"

"Well if you were called the class slut and part of a couple who is most likely to get pregnant of course you I'm angry, Jason," Piper snapped, impatient and irritated. When she saw Jason's guilty and sad look, the angry balloon inside of her has punctured and the guilt balloon inside her has swelled. "I'm sorry," She muttered incoherently.

"S'okay," He smiled good-naturedly, his presence was oddly near and her blushes have returned again. _Damn my nature to blush, _Piper thought, trying her best to cover up her blushes. He smelled oddly like Old Spice, musty yet warm and welcoming.

The mainstreams songs has shut off, the DJ has stopped spinning the techno disco tracks for Thalia's awesome rock band- The Dead's Redemption- has started to play. The guitarist, a sallow skin, stringy blonde hair girl who looked like she had just been woken up from the dead, started out with a long C chord riff.

"Her band is really good," Piper noted to Jason as Thalia belted out the first verse, the awkward tension was so strange and weird that you could have taken a blunt stick and cut through the tension with it.

"Yeah, it's the best when you can hear them rehearse," Jason snuck a sneaky glance at Piper's amused face as she rock slowly to the pounding beat made by the female drummer. "Don't tell her I say that,"

"Oh okay," Piper's hands were suddenly on the pockets of her cherry red jeans, expecting some scathing message from Killer but it didn't happen…maybe, she was being _too _much of a worrywart, like Annabeth. Oh _God, _she was turning into an Annabeth.

And the two couples stand in awkward silence (well, not really silence) while Thalia hit the chorus of one of Piper's favorites songs from The Dead Redemption- Black Love.

_"Standing in the rain, don't know what to say,_

_It's really best if we go our separate ways,_

_After all the things we do to hurt us,_

_Leave this to become a black love,"_

* * *

"I hate that bitch!" Bianca shrieked in anger as she punched her fists onto her wooden closet and regretting it once a hard pang of pain shot up her arm, swearing loudly while Zoe gave her a look of pity. She had just gotten home, after wiping the fallen tears from being threatened to step down or not risk seeing Kadden go to jail…Jennifer really was a monster, she didn't mind sending her own brother to jail to get what she want. And Bianca knew; no matter what she would never do that to Nico- ever.

"Pushing buttons again, is she?" Zoe asked loftily as Bianca aimed another regretted kick at the closet, though Jennifer has saved Nico's life once- telling her about Nico's consummation on drugs, dealings with drugs and relationship with the nearby teenage gangs around the neighborhood. That was only memorable thing about Jennifer Bianca could really smile fondly at.

"What gave you the goddamn idea?" Bianca snapped in the most unpleasant manner ever, Zoe grimaced and winced at her attitude as Bianca settle down on her beautiful velvet burgundy sheets.

"I don't know, maybe the punch, the yell, the name calling, your expression and the kick," Zoe said cheekily as Bianca gave her an exasperated, halfhearted glare.

Bianca's room look oddly the same to the one she had now, same dark and gloomy theme with dark purple drapes and velvet quilts. It looked like a room that belongs to a girl vampire.

"So who are you bringing here for me to meet?" Bianca asked curiously, trying to tread down on the inexplicable anger.

"You'll see, Jennifer ruined her to the core- she has to reestablish her appearance just to get through the torture Jennifer put in," Zoe explained angrily, her hands clenched tightly as she punch one of Bianca's silk black pillows, Bianca took it away before Zoe could abuse and tear out one of her favorite pillows, Zoe scowled and breathe in deeply. She clearly hasn't forgiven Jennifer for the whole 'lesbian' joke but what made it worse was now the whole school was going round about it.

Jennifer has created this thing call- 'Lesbian Zoe'- as an expression. So now every time someone does something stupid in their school or say something blatantly obvious, they would go- "Don't be a Lesbian Zoe!" or "That's such a Lesbian Zoe thing to say!" Kids could be so cruel these days.

"So what is she going to help us with?"

"Remember the club I was talking to you about?" Zoe said as she reached into a simple blue bag pack and took out a dark green hardcover folder from the bag. Bianca noticed on the surface of the hardcover there was an inky label on the folder: **_Constance Clique. _**

"Yeah?"

"Well, the girl is the co-founder with another one- I don't really know, she won't tell me," Zoe said skeptically as she flipped open the folder and Bianca's eyes widened when she saw all those photos of Jennifer, some of them had her friends in them- sometimes even her! There was another image of Jennifer coming out of the local church with the rest of her family, Mrs. Brown looking haughtily cold and pretty (Bianca was oddly reminded of Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter), Mr. Brown looked like the man of power- his eyes was like an identical pair to his daughter that it was creepy, Jennifer had her innocent girl face (as if that would fool anyone) and Kadden was there of course, Bianca felt a rush of affection in her throat when she saw him but it was replaced by a sudden burst of bitterness when she remembered Jennifer's threat.

"Whoa, overkill," Bianca whispered as she saw Jennifer with Bianca at the yoghurt store they often hang out at but this scene struck a particular memory in her head. "So who's this Jennifer hater that is coming?"

Zoe gave her a sullen smile, "Thalia Grace,"

* * *

**You really have to love the element of surprise. Just got back from camp, had a pretty fun time. Please be noted that- I won't be updating as easy as it comes, even if the holidays are here (Merry Belated Christmas and a happy new year!) because I had been working full time on my novel. So far the word count is 6331, most of it goes to the first chap and some of it goes to the second hapter- about 712 for the second hapter and I just started this Saturday! **

***grins* I don't own much, everything actually. :( **

**Remember to review or else I'll ask Killer to come and haunt you, your choice!**

**Lots of love,**

**-Savvy. **


	11. Shake it out

Chapter 11

Shake it out

"So is everyone here?" Reyna asked pointedly as she stared them down expectantly as the school council sat down nervously with Reyna's liquid glare, "Why is everyone late?" She asked with a steely note in her voice. Reyna knew everyone was out at the party last night, but she thought everyone on the school council would be sensible enough come back to their dorms at a respectful hour like she did.

Apparently not.

Judging by their weary eyes and their winces with every single loud squeak she made with her chair, everyone on the council had woke up with a hangover. _Charming, _Reyna thought as she rapt the table with her leg and ignored the pain that was shooting up her leg and satisfied with herself as everyone jumped awake. "Better," Reyna clasped her hand together after everyone grumbled and complain about her loud kick on the table that shook everyone awake. "So now the annual ball is coming up, and we have only two weeks to pull it together, people! Now any ideas, people?" No one put up their hands, feeling rather annoyed with the council she decided to pick on one of them. "Annabeth?"

"Greek and Roman theme?" Annabeth mumbled half-heartedly as she rubbed her head with her palms, accustomed to Reyna's loud voice.

"We did that last year," Reyna said flatly, face livid and half-furious that everyone- the school council- was so irresponsible! They knew the meeting was the next day, Reyna has nothing against of having some fun (after all, she _did _suffered Jennifer for two years) but surely if you know you have something the next day, you wouldn't be stupid enough to party like you would die tomorrow?

"Ooh, how about a Halloween mask theme ball?" Nico shrugged, he was the person who looked like the _least _drunk out of them all but whose eyes were still a little weary and tired and body looked a little peaky. "Since Halloween is nearing anyways,"

"Yeah," Reyna pondered a little, in her mind she imagined maybe it was best if they hosted the party at the school's auditorium, she imagined black and white streamers, people with masks and their awesome Halloween costumes, gothic rock music swaying the mood around as dark red lights flashed (maybe she could get Thalia's band The Dead Redemption to play) and pumpkin pastries and dark red punch for Confectionaries and Delights. "That's actually a fantastic idea," She scribbled the ideas inside her book folder and look up expectantly at the rest of council, "Anything else?"

No replies, just a few groans and the sounds of people shifting in their chairs, "Halloween Mask Theme; it is," Reyna said.

* * *

Piper opened her eyes. She was sleeping on a nice-smelling couch; well to her it smelled nice. Like Old Spice, Calvin Klein and instant noodles; like _Jason…_what?! She jerked awake, she was in an unfamiliar place…it looked like a living room of an apartment.

Once she regained proper consciousness, she surveyed her surroundings benignly. The couch was leather, it was surprisingly warm but it has something to do with her body warmth. She realize that a large t-shirt and a small thin blanket was wrapped around her, another leather couch was right next to the one she was sleeping on, white gleaming walls radiated glowing beams like a rocket ship and make her eyes squint, the floors were carpeted in a nice, warm beige color, there was an obsidian black marbled coffee table that has a messy set of papers, photographs and sport magazines and an LCD TV plastered on the wall right on top of a rather large fireplace. Whoever owned the place must be doing really good on them…

A decent-size, not-too-overkill chandelier hung on top of her, giving light to the room even though it wasn't needed because the large glass windows have sunlight streaming already; she threw off the large blanket and shirt off her and dragged her feet off the couch and onto the warm floor. She also realizes that she was wearing a huge t-shirt that was quite squishy, like a teddy bear and short shorts. "So you're finally awake,"

She nearly jumped out of her skin; her hands tighten around the section of the couch she was trying to tear off as she whirled around to see a rather nice-looking Jason Grace. _Nice-looking? _She scolded herself as he walked towards her and she felt herself enraptured as he came over with _that _smile…then she chided herself, when since did she think like _that? _Like those brainless bimbos that go round chasing men and mating with chivalrous men like rabbits, those loser pixies that she made fun of so often? She meant to say 'What the hell are you doing here' and it changed to: "Where the effing hell am I?" She demanded in a rude tone, the rudeness come from the irritation with herself for thinking like _that. _

"You were really drunk when the party ended, you were on the floor," He added with a crooked smile, "So I thought I want to be a decent person and brought you here, so you won't find yourself messed up on the forest floor," He said with mischievous chuckled as Piper rolled her eyes.

"Hilarious, Grace, but you didn't tell me where the sodding hell is this place?"

"Touchy," Jason tutted, leaning on the doorframe that leads an entrance to a modern kitchen with a long, big white island and modern abstract art works hanging by the walls; modern chandeliers hung at the next room and a long glass black dining table clothed with silky woven quilts and the place was really spectacular, quite different from Songbird Academy-with its Renaissance glamour and the modern exterior at this…loft? House? Apartment? Penthouse was a more appropriate word for it. "You're in my apartment,"

Looking at his 'apartment', more like some high class Upper East Side penthouse, "You're doing nice, Grace,"

He looked annoyed at the fact that she called him 'Grace', so to irate her even more, "You're one to talk, Mclean," He said with a smirk as he caressed down the wrinkles on his Levi's t-shirt, "You downed thirty shots of vodka two nights ago,"

"Oh please-" Piper began to scoffed, and then he whirled onto him, "Two nights ago? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" She went towards him and smacked him on the shoulder, irate and blushing to her roots because of his goofy smirk. Oh how she love and cherished that smirk, now she positively hate it- in a cute, quirky kind of way.

"You seemed so peaceful sleeping," He blinked innocently, saying those words between the dodges of her smacks and hits. "I didn't want to wake you up,"

"I missed a whole day of school! And it was a Friday- where I had my project with Leo!" Piper whined in annoyance, stomping her foot. "Grace, I'm going to kill you!"

He let out a roll eye and mumbled under his breath, "You save them from possible rape and mutilation in the forest and they repay you by hitting you. _Women…_" Piper rolled her eyes as she realized her face was messed up, her mascara gone runny and her lipstick was smudge. Her cheery red pants were torn, her vest was ripped that it only covers her bra, so it looked like some sort of plaid vest bra, her boots had their heels torn off and her bag was nowhere to be found.

"Gah, I'm sticky and went with sweat," She said, wrapping his old, musty shirt that smelled so nicely like him. The shirt covered her abdomen so that Jason wouldn't be staring at her chest and bare stomach, though his eyes were glazing over there and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _Pervert, _she thought fondly. "Can I um, shower somewhere and get some new clothes?"

"You can borrow some of Thalia's, and you can use her shower," Jason shrugged simply. "Follow me," She was finally happy that she could change out of her sticky clothes, and get that awful sickly tequila smell off her body and she was curious to see what was Jason doing out of school now…

She followed him out of the living room and come into a room where it was basically a white, polished modern box with tall glass, metal-framed windows that showed the Philadelphia city; with oak trees and nature-filled air but also condensed with cars and the Metropolitan city (well at least half of it). There was an island kitchen on her right; blue, white and steel gray was its primary colors in the kitchen. Spotless white long tabled island with blue glows at the bottom, stainless steel utensils hung in metal racks and the refrigerator was also metal.

There was the dining room that was right opposite of the island kitchen, black, white and silver was the main colors now. Black rectangle table with white table mats at every silver velvet chair (there was a total of twelve), white matching coasters stacked right in the middle with a glass orchid vase and modern bulbs of chandelier reflecting beautifully into the penthouse.

"Oh by the way, your phone," Jason handed her brand new Samsung Galaxy that was lying peacefully on the black dining table and she cracked a grin.

"Thanks for taking care of it, Grace,"

"No problem, Mclean,"

They walked into a small lobby with blue and white marbles, swirling with golden patterns as a small elevator docked silently without any beeps and rusty, man-handle ivy delicate railings were made for stairs going up to the loft's rooms. He climbed up the steps with Piper right behind him and brought her past the hallways of rooms where there was a simple, plain maid taking a big bucket of fluffed out towels. "Good Day, Alice?"

"Yes Master Grace and the stranger is who?" Alice the Maid has a strong, South London accent, her eyes were dull and brown; like mud and her hair was a plain, boring brown.

"Miss Mclean, she'll need some of Thalia's clothes," He responded quickly and she nodded, Alice the Maid resumed to doing her usual duties.

"Wow, kicked out of Songbird and disown by the Grace family and you're still rolling in riches," Piper remarked as Alice dusted off a Venetian, four million British pounds art piece by the nape of the stairs with a small toothbrush.

"This is my mom's place," Jason said quietly and Piper's eyes widened, Hera was Jason's stepmother and Piper knew that Jason and Thalia had shared a birth mother together and that the birth mother has died in a car accident. So this was Mrs. Grace loft…

"She has an amazing taste in art and interior designing," Piper noted softly as they went by another horde of chambers and rooms, lacy black curtains covered the glass windows and the floor was carpeted, beige and have some fluffy white ones of the ground. When they finally reach a room with a black wooden sign nailed on to the door, skulls decorated the border and in a bold print it wrote: **KEEP OUT OR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU. **

_Typical Thalia, _Piper mused with a smile as Jason opened the door. "Just borrow some of her clothes from the drawer and you can use the shampoo and stuff," Jason said with a swift, easy smile and Piper gave him one of her stunning grins.

Thalia's room was predictably punk-rock, black ripped shawls for curtains by the windows and draperies at her four-poster bed, black and white classic stripes for the sheets and matching pillows to go with it, loud and blood red rock concert posters were plastered all over the dark wall along with pictures of friends, her baby brother Jason and her rock band in action. Few guitars looming in each corner, a desk sat facing two large panels of glass windows and the black ripped curtains were all pulled aside so the view would be lovely.

"Thanks, Jase," Jason closed the door to leave Piper alone for privacy and Piper let out a breath of fresh air, she wondered how much frigging _trouble _she would be in when she get back. She was probably going to get heaps of detention…maybe even suspension, but Piper could deal with consequences (she had a good fair share of detentions in other schools), it's the disappointment and guilt trip she was worried about. First, everyone would be relieved, then shocked, then angry and then _very, very _disappointed with her and second, she had no idea how Leo was going through with the movie project- she was supposed to give the script yesterday!

She stripped out of her torn clothes and shoes, and propped open the door that leads to Thalia's humongous bathroom. The floor has sunk into the ground, creating a big, deep round home for a bathtub, two showerheads were hung nicely on racks on the wall, gothic candle light surround the bathtub. A vanity table stood by the corner with Hot Topic makeup products, dark red blood lipstick, thick eyeliners, black and purple lipstick, leopard of tiger prints stick on tattoos…

Piper didn't linger around to search things; she just filled the tub with warm water and pours in the last few contents of the bubble bath. She settled in the bathtub, the bubbles floated up into the air and filled the room with a nice, rare strawberry smell.

Piper managed to wash her stringy hair, scrubbed her body clean and rinsed every single each of filthiness of her body. When she was done, she emptied the water and grabbed a clean towel from one of the racks and wrapped it around her body. She brushed her teeth and her mouth felt so much fresher once the alcohol scent had left her. She brushed all of the knots, tangles and twists her hair was tied together in (this took a good deal of twenty minutes) and she knotted the towel around her naked body as she went out of the bathroom to change into some clothes.

Thalia's wardrobe choices were really Piper, they were cool and rugged but a little too much for Piper so she ended up grabbing some ripped jeans that looked like it barely survived an axe, a large black Three Days Grace sweater and some black boots. Piper decided to tie up her hair but that wasn't any hair ties lying around…

Maybe she should try the desk?

She went over to the glass desk with four metallic table legs, a black office chair was tucked in and Piper pulled it out, sitting on to it. A Mac laptop was shut down; lying so still and quiet and a bunch of essays were stacked neatly right next to it. Some cupboards were built right beside the desk and Piper thought she could try checking there.

She opened the first drawer and saw a dark green folder with the words **Constance Clique **marked at the front of it. There were obviously no hair ties in the drawer and feeling in a curious mood, she picked up the folder and flipped it open. And nearly blanched when she saw what was in the folder. It was a frigging picture of her, Jennifer, Reyna, Bianca and Annabeth hands in hands walking out of the school parking lot and flipping some more pages; there was more, the images were beginning to be more Jennifer centric.

_What the hell? _Piper thought shakily as she closed the folder and glance at the drawers, there was two Blackberries lying forgotten deep at the edge of the drawer and in primal instincts, she grabbed those phone and turn them on.

She immediately went to the inbox of messages, she knew it was rude to pry through people things but those snapshots of her own privacy and Jennifer's was too far too! The messages were loaded from Bianca, some random person called _The Master _and Jason; also the last few ones were from Zoe. She decided to read the ones to Bianca:

**To: B**

**From: T**

**I told u Vega would b unreliable, we told her not 2 and she stills do it. Now she got herself killed by The Master, I told u!**

She assumed Vega was Tammie; Thalia…Thalia…wouldn't….right? Sick with consumed fear and shaken to the core, she read on:

**From: B**

**To: T**

**Vega was an idiot, we get it but are u sure Jas- I mean J would be able to carry put said tasks?**

J as in Jason? _Jason? _Maybe another Jason, maybe they were- _oh be realistic, Mclean, _she could nearly hear Jason's cynical voice in her head and she flinched slightly, _this is Thalia and Bianca we're talking about, how many Jasons does you and them knows?_

**To: B**

**From: T**

**J did it; I told you he could do it. **

_Do what? Do what? _The same refraining question repeated in her mind as she threw the phone back into the drawer along with the folder as hot tears started to form in her eyes. The Graces were a bunch of traitors, Thalia wasn't really her friend- she was just playing mind games but the real player was Jason; twisting her emotions like that and leading her off to some fatal trap to where she broke her heart and in the end, now, he did.

Opening the second drawer to find some more things about the truth, she didn't think Thalia was Killer…no being Killer wasn't Thalia's style not Jason, Jason and Thalia might not look the same but they were the same in so many different levels. They prefer being seen, no matter what they are outspoken and they must be the leader; they're not the hiding behind the curtains sort of person- when they want to humiliate someone with their secrets, they do it out in the open so that everyone can see not some childish mind games of cat and mouse with taunts and blackmails. No, it was simply not that. It must be someone they were associating with and that someone must be the master of it all.

She wondered if he ever loves her, or she was starting to fear he never love anyone ever and that could be ruined by Karen, his dead girlfriend. Piper was inexperience on grief and loss, she never lost anyone close to her heart- so far, the only person she known died was Grandpa Tom and she only spoken a word to him. She wondered how it felt and how it can drive people to do stupid things; at the second drawer laid nothing but a box.

Black, medium size and plain, she lifted open the covers and had to stifled a gasp when she saw the gun. Black, polished and perfect to use with ammunition clips packed neatly right next to the handgun and three metal polished bullets all in there.

Suddenly, the world seems to be colder than usual now.

* * *

**So I bet all of you are cursing Jason Grace to oblivion now...so this is what J been doing all these weeks out of school, how his incomes were getting paid. Killer paid him to keep a close eye over Piper...freaky how your close ones can suddenly turn against you, right?**

**You know that little button there, press it! **

**I want your theories on why you think Jason is doing this, and to be honest the whole Jeyna-Jasper fight reminds me of SnapeXLilyXJames, just genders being switched. And in the end, Lily chose James, Jason chose Piper. **

**Jeyna fans: NOOOO!**

**Jasper fans: YESSS!**

**Me: Oh Jesus Christ, deal with it! **

**Snape died with loyalty and bravery, Reyna will go down fighting the same (NOT SAYING SHE WILL)! Lily and James died first though...oh no, JASON! PIPER!**

**Don't own anything, just review. People, review or not Hell Hath No Fury Like Savvy Scorned. You don't want to see some poor chair kick because you didn't give a review...RIGHT?**

**Love and a Please Review! **

**-Savvy.**


	12. Love is Hate

**Song suggestions:**

**Scene 1- Skinny Love by Birdy or Ed Sheeran (whichever version you want, original singer: Bon Iver) because take the scene from Percy's POV. You would feel bitter if your soul mate invited you to an expensive school to be with you and when you're there she made you feel so isolated and alone; like you're not even in a relationship and your love is being wasted...I would be pretty pissed; like why the hell did you even let me go then if you want to get close to me when I feel like we're not even in a relationship or hell, know each other?**

**Scene 2- You Found Me by The Fray because you know they found each other... or The Man Who Can't Be Moved by the Script because of Jason's regrets of losing Piper, and missing her or Love The Way You lie by Eminem ft. Rihanna for...reasons you'll figure out...**

Chapter 12

Love is Hate

"Why the _hell _did you Percy and Rachel in the same decorating committee as I am?" Annabeth hissed poisonously at Reyna as Annabeth eyed the happy couple laughing as they put up the black streamers up on the wall as they were asked too.

"Because A) They offered to help B) There was more vacant spots in the decorating committee C) We need all the help we can get to pull this shindig in less than a week days D) I thought you wouldn't care because you already got Dreamy Guy around your fingers," Reyna responded snappily, setting up the dark red and bright lights that will be flashing in the auditorium, Reyna was trying to figure out all the wires and cables properly. "Stupid cables, I'm asking the technical guy to help,"

"Weren't you supposed to ask for help in the first place?"

"Hilarious, but where is the technical guy?"

"The technical guy is Leo, he's probably in his dorm you can go fetch him- I'll start setting up the cups and posters,"

"I'll go now," Reyna dropped the cables, and stood up nice and tall. Her dark hair swishing behind her as she went to find the 'technical guy', Annabeth can't help smirking at Reyna's eagerness to go find Leo.

Annabeth took a deep breath; she's going to have to pass some black and red paper tissues to Percy so he could start on the food table which both of them have been assigned to do the food table and Annabeth scowled, she sometimes wonder whether fate was out to get her. Why did it have to be _him? _Why does she have to organize chips and settled the table clothes in such an awkward setting? Annabeth reassured herself if she can see Terri Evans' mangled body splattered like spaghetti on school grounds and laugh in the face of Death (Killer or if you prefer to be more technical- Tammie Vega), she can handle a few awkward moments; though she preferred to be in the same room with Killer than faced Dare and Jackson.

"Jackson," She said crisply in a competent tone, as if she was speaking to the Mayor. _Honestly Chase, _she said cynically in her head, _thought you have more maturity than this…_"Percy, um, well, we need to set the tables," _Not bad…_

Percy was just taping the new Dance posters on the walls when she asked him, he was talking to Rachel whose orange hair has dye in a new, darker shade of red and her exquisite green eyes that was like downing pools of emeralds. Skin pale as snow, lips soft and pink like a rose, faint freckles splashed on her nose like a permanent tattoo, and a small, gentle face. Her dark red frizzy has toned down into luscious soft waves and she waved casually at Annabeth as she came over.

Rachel was sporting a black scarf, a simple dark green long sleeve off shoulder top, argyle leggings and a few simple brown boots. The dark green top made her ivory complexion even paler and her red hair darker than usual, almost the color of blood. "Annabeth, hey," She greeted sincerely, and Annabeth smiled vicariously back.

"Hi Rachel, you look really nice," Annabeth noted as Rachel's blood red hair moved like a mirage of shimmering red curtains, blood red wavy curtains and her green eyes lined with some kohl. "Manage to fight of all the fizziness,"

Rachel grinned, her pale pink lips twisted into a genuine smile. And Percy came into their conversation with a box full of black cables. "Uh, Annabeth, where should I put all the DJ stuff?" He asked uneasily, those green eyes earnest as every as she had to restrained herself from possibly judo-flipping him or kissing him. Probably both.

"Over by the corner, Leo and his tech team will sort it out," Annabeth replied nicely, as she passed the box the tissues to Rachel, there were two portable white tables to be set up and then to cover it with black and red table cloths, stacked up the tissue papers and some plastic black and red cups and plates.

After that, she would have to paint the walls black for the whole gothic and Halloween mood, hang up some red balloons with black streamers, checked the red and gold disco lights, and see if the sound system was in adequate position. _Lots to do, Chase!_

"So how's senior year?" Annabeth asked quietly as Rachel and Annabeth put up the portable table's legs up and flipped it over so it could stand. She wanted to be in senior year with all her other classmates, to yearn for that freedom and gateway to college, but no, thanks to Tammie, she had to repeat junior year and learn all of the things she learned before; at least she'll get better grades.

"It's taxing- after this I have two more history essays, another English report, and then I'll have to translate the fourteenth chapter of the French version of _Les Misérables-_ and I also have another math worksheet to do," Rachel summed up her weekend to me about how the workload senior year has to offer…now, Annabeth was starting to be really glad she stayed back a year or not she might collapsed in stress.

"That is a lot," Annabeth whistled as Rachel helps her smooth out the wrinkles from the black cloth and do the same with the other portable table with the red cloth. They stacked up the paper tissues in each table and began to sort out the plastic cups and plates.

Annabeth snuck a sneaky glance at Percy who was sorting out the disco lights, plugging in different cables so different colors would streams out of the machine and flashed different shades of red and gold.

Some other people on the decorating committee did a brilliant job with the other decorations. The room was big, a big great rectangle auditorium. The entrance was framed by two large oak doors; half of the room was decked by black clothed round tables all randomly situated in different rows. On each of those tables, there was a cartooned, glow in the dark pumpkin lighter and a table number card, silk woven chairs were all stacked into the tables; six chairs in every table each.

The other half was completely free, space for people who wanted to dance. Katie Gardiner and Juniper Berry had finished off with tables and they went and set out the other decorations; like randomly placing some more glow-in-the-dark animated pumpkins around the perimeter of the room, black and red balloons were high at the ceiling and streamers hung out from the end of the balloons.

Percy came back with some plastic knives and forks; ready to be neatly organize onto the Food table. His dark blue shirt was crinkled at the edge of it and he handed the box of plastic cutleries to her, "I got a feeling it's going to be one of the best dance in the history of Songbird, don't you think?" He marveled at the room with a silly grin. Annabeth wanted to hit him or possibly slapped him, yet she wanted to kiss him so badly. Why was she stupid enough to push him away? She made him feel isolated and lonely; like they weren't even in a relationship.

So he broke it off with her, but why go after Rachel; her friend? Make her jealous? But then she was also, _partly, _trying to make him jealous by using Luke…

Percy leaned over to kiss Rachel on the cheek and they both beamed at Annabeth, "So let's try to finish this," Annabeth said with her voice high-pitched; trying to hide the hurt in her voice.

* * *

"How could you, you backstabbing foul little cheat?" Piper stormed down the stairs of Jason's peaceful apartment, she tore down through the hallway- giving Alice the Maid a big fright as the furious brunette made. She stomped down the stairs and gave him a dynamic, impulsive stare as if she didn't care if she said anything stupid.

Jason was just finishing up with some coffee by the island table in the kitchen, sipping softly and enjoying the afternoon quietly but it was interrupted by a downtrodden, angst-ridden, upset teen brunette who was bombarding his stairs and apartment with furious storms and slams as she made her way towards him. "Piper what-"

"Don't say my name, Grace!" She said furiously, and then she threw a large, shiny Blackberry onto the kitchen's island table; right in front of him. "You had been spying on me; on the orders of Killer!" Those pretty eyes were confused, clouded with anger, hurt and betrayal as Jason's heart froze on the spot- it seems to forget how to beat mildly like a troublemaker child caught on the act.

"Piper…"

"Don't say it, Grace!"

"_Fine!" _He spat, "if you want me to call you Mclean so badly, just _ask!" _Blood was rushing to his face and the anger boiling beneath him; he remembered Killer. God, he hated the bloody bitch. "Listen, Thalia got me involved with that Killer business-"

"Yes, I know Thalia is involved," Piper said angrily, as she hit the table with her fist and she winced in pain but she obviously didn't want Jason to see her moment of weakness so she just stick with gnashing her teeth together, "But you were using me from the start, telling me that you like me- _rich coming for you, Grace!" _Her message ended with a high-pitch tone towards it, a tear slid down her cheek and she rubbed it away angrily; as if offended with herself that she dare cried in front of Jason _sodding _Grace!

Jason knew he really hurt her; Piper wasn't often weepy nor did she often cry. She cried tears of joy when Jennifer (the baby) uttered her first word (which was Jas or Jess), she sobbed harder when Jennifer went missing and was declared dead, she shed a few leaky tears when Jason smashed her heart last year when he broke it off and she let out a few angry, frustrated cries when her father disowned her. Jason dated a fair girls; the toughest of them was Reyna, Karen and Piper.

Reyna was hostile, she built walls, and she was intelligent, strong-willed. She was a born queen, a born leader, someone willing to do it by herself and take no help for granted. Jason loved her, but they were too much of the same and their conditions with each other has grown from loving couple to cold strangers and to acquainted friends; he feel like sticking with acquainted friends for the moment.

Karen. God, he loved- still love her; her dark hair and olive green eyes. She was pretty, smart and so sweet then she ruined herself; angry at the whole world, angry at her parents for splitting up and taking that anger, ending up smoking, partying or taking drugs and then committee suicide. She was the least brave; she chose a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

And then there was Piper. Precious, pretty, dainty, damsel Piper; everyone pegged her as a weakling- a weak _link. _She was so kind, sweet and naïve yet hardened by the center; neglected by her father, abandoned by her mother and yet so sweet to everyone. Her naiveté allowed her to trust and love people, yet her regrets made her cautious. She might act and look perfect; but she wasn't. She wasn't exactly innocent, losing her virginity and getting pregnant, stealing things out of anger and frustration. She knew how to love even though she was hardened up by her family's troubles; she didn't kick anyone out of her life because after all a life without love is barely living.

"Piper-"

"Grace!"

"Oh my god, Mclean!" Jason groaned; irritated. "Listen, sit down and have some coffee," Piper still glare defiantly at him, that cute upturn button nose of hers was starting to distract him and he was starting to lose him temper, "Mclean, sit your measly ass down on this chair and drink this goddamn coffee!" He roared.

She did but with muttering a string of foul curses towards him. He pushed the coffee he was drinking towards her, and she stared at the coffee, glared at him and looked around his abundant house, to avoid his gentle blue eyes. "No coffee? After the night you just had?"

"I hate it when you have a point," Mclean grumbled, but she took the coffee in her hands and twirled the cup in her hands.

"I haven't poisoned it, you know," Jason said with a roll of his eyes and Piper took the sip of the coffee.

"I was just being careful, you know," Piper said coolly, "Considering the fact that you're working with Killer and all,"

Jason ignored the annoying, petty jab she made at him and pressed on, "Look, I did meet you with the project but then Thalia took me aside and said there was ways to make some easy money and I was interested," Jason explained his blue eyes on the girl who was taking a humble gulp of the drink. Her dark hair was wet and damp, her eyes reproachful and large- flashing into a brilliant olive green color and her face masking a cool, collected expression. "So what I had to do was just keep tabs on you, what you were doing but I stopped after what happen to Drew at the Greek and Roman dance," He watched her face as her face changed into a vicarious expression.

"Why did you stop?" She asked shakily, she looked away as Jason clenched his fists and scolded his past mistakes as they resurface in the conversation, hands clenched tight as he took out the packet of cigarettes from the pockets of his jeans and tossed it onto the table. He took out a lighter (also from his pockets) and a cigarette from the box and then lit it up and pressed it to his lips. A whiff of smoke went up his nose and he let out a wistful breath as Piper eyed the packet of cigarettes. "You smoke?"

"I used to when I was like thirteen or fourteen then I stopped for a while and it came back," Jason converse as he took out another cigarette and tossed it to Piper who catch it perfectly, her face carved into an innocuous expression as she grabbed the lighter and light it up, pressing it to her lips, "And _god _I miss it, you smoke too?"

Piper hesitated as if she was afraid to answer him before nodding carefully, her eyes livid with insipid emotions as she inhaled her first whiff of air. "You sound so surprise," She said in a perfunctory tone, rushing with her words as she blew up a hasty smoke up in the air. Jason felt too lazy to walk over to the other side of the room to open the windows. "I was in a rebellious phase," A smile curled at her lip_s_, "_And _I haven't had a drag in so long," She shuddered slightly as he breathe out his smoke.

"I figured it wasn't your first time, first timers always cough up on the smoke," Jason closed his eyes as he inhaled another smoke in, Thalia would probably scold him if she seems him like this- smoking but hell, who was she to judge when she smoke too? "But I guess all of us have a rebellious stage in our lives somehow?"

"I'm glad you're not arbitrating me, but then again you'll be judging yourself too," Piper said gently; she was opening up again but Jason reminded himself not to get too hopeful.

"Hmm, well you're a capricious girl; who expected little Mclean here to smoke?"

"Who knew Grace know how to use the word 'capricious'; I often pegged blonde boys to have the brain capacity of a peanut…"

"Oi, I take offense to that!"

She smiled teasingly, the cigarette at the tip of her small, pretty lips, "You're supposed too," She said smugly, but then the innocuous expression on her face melted off and turned serious again. "But why did you stop?"

"I fell for you," He said honestly, he was itching to cup her beautiful face and pressed those pale pink lips to his and her breath taste smoky. He sat back at his chair, ignoring the itch as he took another long smoke and sitting back. "You were different from all of the other girls, you're sweet and gentle but not a girly girl who shriek louder than a banshee, you're headstrong and tough but not bitter or hostile; I guess I stuck with you,"

Piper stared at him, her face thoughtful and the cigarette twirling around her fingers and even in her cool, poker face (he seen this expression on Reyna all the time, Piper must have picked up the habit) he could sense an undercurrent of a smile on her face. "You did?" She asked quietly as her smoke lay between her fingers, momentarily forgotten.

"Of course I do," He replied quietly as he dragged the ash tray lying by the corner of the island's table and dumped the last bit of his cigarette. He laced his fingers; she was scanning his face with a sage face and a small smile. "I always love you, Piper," _No longer known as Mclean…_

She leaned closer, his heart was frantically beating to the sound of a drum and rushing in a panic race to love as the smile spread wider onto her lips as she uttered two syllables from her speech, "Prove it,"

_Fine, _he thought, _prove it to the self-righteous bitch, _so he kissed her.

* * *

**Yes, I'm starting to put song recomendations...I like music! Anyway...guess you didn't expect that last bit? Did you? Did you?**

**However, Reyna's bit on finding out her family and secrets would be coming out! The next, next chapter will focus on Anniekins and the ball. **

**I can't wait for the ball...it's going to be killer (Couldn't resist...sorry)! And what happen last year's ball? Oh yeah, they found out what Killer was doing, Drew was pushed down the stairs, kidnapped and stabbed and forced to move schools...I assure you, at least expect it to be as eventful as that. **

**Now remember kiddies, reviews are chocolate. And do I like chocolate, no I LOVE chocolate...meaning I LOVE reviews.**

**Do I need to tell you what to do? No...**

**Don't own anything here...**

**-Savvy**


	13. Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter 13

Behind Enemy Lines

Reyna was hoping that none of her school mates would see her. Why?

Because she was in a gun store; the reasons of why she was in Connecticut Tactical Gear shop was innocuously simple. The gun she stolen from her father's bedside table was right in her school bag and Reyna was sweating profusely, what if she was arrested for being armed? Surely, there must be some rules…good god; she needed to get a grip on herself, her mother was a lawyer. She knows the laws by heart and knows that you can't arrest a minor for carrying a weapon without a license...well, she hopes so.

The papers that Killer has written on, the clues, the codes, the gun, Jennifer, the Browns, the Whites, Killer…and she was in the middle of this and it was driving her mad, so mad, she had to just figure out what the hell was going on.

Reyna knew she was very adamant and insistent on trying to find out her past but she wanted to, she needed to know.

Connecticut Tactical Gear shop was an odd little shop by the edge of the corner street that Reyna was walking on, it was one of those free days when the residents of Songbird Academy was allowed to roam free in the town square.

She entered the shop, dressed in a dark utility jacket, jeans, a purple top, her hair braided in a single, serious plait and her expression was a forlorn, cool poker face that masked her every emotion perfectly. In other words, Reyna White was looking like Reyna White. Connecticut Tactical Shop was painted in a horrible shade of green that even Rachel Elizabeth Dare (who thinks every color means something and is beautiful) would have gagged at it.

It was a dusty, green shop. Different type of guns encased by glass, like jewelries, and a bald, fat man sat on a stool behind those glass cases of guns. He leered at her when she entered, but Reyna's poker face didn't break; she never intended it to. Reyna just lift her head and arched an eyebrow as he sneered, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was a mistake to ever sneer at Reyna White; with her fierce, regal face twisted into an emotionless statue and angry glint in her cold eyes, a smarter person would've known better to ever question her. Apparently, this man has no IQ whatsoever.

"What do you want, little girl?" He growled as she approached him swiftly without any hesitation.

"To know if you ever sold this," She reached into her school bag and took out the handgun and placed it on the glass in front of him. His bloodshot eyes were trying to break into her but she was too strong to be breaking through like that, his eyebrows shot up when he examined the handgun closer.

"Listen Princess-"

"Don't call me that, the name is…" She paused for a while, thinking about it and said confidently, "The name is Regina, Regina Brown,"

"Ms. Brown," He said in disdain, like he was disgusted with himself because he was addressing a younger person formally. "This is the handgun that is sold three years ago…"

"And?"

"And this gun was purchased by a girl," He answered snidely, his breath smelled like aftershave, cigarettes and beer; it took a lot of willpower not to wrinkle her nose. "She looks a bit like you, she has your dark hair and cheekbones, icy green eyes and pale skin, red lips," He described the customer who had purchased the gun while Reyna nearly stumbled out of her confident stride…_it couldn't be. _

"A-a-are you sure?" She asked eagerly, almost nervous and yet sort of excited to hear the right answer.

"Yes, I am sure," He said irritably (someone woke on the wrong side of the bed today). "I remember every single customer I sell things to, her name was Gemma Ignis," Gemma Ignis? Hold on…she remembered something that Jennifer told her something about her name being an anagram…but was the girl Jennifer? And if it did, what does her father has to do with it?

She heard that name before…it was so familiar. And the last name Ignis…it bugs her, like an answer on a test she was sure she studied and remembered but failed too. Hold on…Ignis…it means fire in Latin! Fire…Gemma Fire, _Gem Fire…Jenn Fire…Jennifer! _It was clever, witty; it does seem like one of Jennifer's riddles. An anagram; that surely was Jennifer…but it still didn't answer the question, why was her adopted father involved with a dead girl's weapon?

But there were those times when the devil itself entered in the room at the absolute worse time, the devil was literally Bianca Di Angelo.

"Reyna," She greeted with so much enthusiasm that Reyna was nearly blinded with the happiness, "What are you doing here?"

"I- well- I wanted to see if this," She tapped onto the handgun that was on the glass case, "Still works," She said with a force smile, Bianca peered at the hand gun and a brisk smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, well I'm here to get some hunting guns," Bianca said with a poisonous smile. "I'm _very _into the sport,"

* * *

"So you're going to the ball right?" Annabeth asked Luke as he tucked in a lock of loose blonde hair that fell from her ponytail, she glance in those perfect cerulean eyes and he gave her a polite smile.

"Of course," He said in a poignant tone, and Annabeth beamed at him, she held his hand and used the other to start on her Russian democratic ways of their government and history essay. She like Luke, she really do, she love_d _him and she love someone else.

Of course, Luke and Annabeth have their unspeakable history together. Luke left Annabeth for a college girl in Australia during his travelling college years, Annabeth was heartbroken but she didn't blame him. The guy was two years older her, he was at the other side of the world and truthfully she was also drifting away from him; he had the decency to break it off with her before cheating on her. They had some dark secrets they really didn't want to share, Luke's fight that had ended a drunk, innocent kid's life, Annabeth's destruction to- ah, better not tell that.

"Great," Annabeth responded swiftly as she started to explain on how the Russian communism worked on the paper with her ballpoint pen, her fingers moving rapidly as she scribble her fifth paragraph neatly and Luke peered at her essay and a small smile.

"I remember that essay," He chuckled slightly, blue eyes dancing softly in amusement as Annabeth cleverly lifted her head and gave him a coy smile. "But I don't think it's supposed to be six paragraphs long and you haven't even got to the conclusion yet,"

"Last year, I got a B when I had three paragraphs so I'm extending it," Annabeth replied briskly. She paused for a while to take a drink from her cup of coffee and then carried on with her homework.

"Shame I got a C on it with the same length," He said indignantly, 'Sometimes I think that Ms. Artemis has something against boys,"

"What gave you the idea?" Annabeth asked sarcastically, her tone sardonic. "She barked at Grover Underwood a few days ago for breathing too loudly,"

"She's a madwoman, if you ask me,"

"No, she's a bit judgmental and mean towards boys but overall she's quite smart and influential,"

"That's your opinion,"

"You're just upset because I got a better grade than you did," She teased slightly. Luke gave her another one of his beautiful smiles, and gave her a squeeze on her fingers; but then Thalia approached them, she came up to them, dressed up in her usual punker rock getup and coffee in hand with her book bag slung over shoulders.

"Hey Annabeth," She chirped in her usual way, her dark hair was down and those dark locks framed her hawk-ish, sharp face, her blue eyes magnified by her thick eyeliner and her lips were dark red, large and pouty, full lips. "Luke," She greeted a little coldly, her eyes flashing a bit as she remembered the times Annabeth was upset over him- the breakup.

"Thalia," His grin was fading a little when she grabbed the empty chair besides Annabeth and sat on it, "Good morning,"

"It was," Thalia replied in a sharp tone as her lips curled in disdain, "Homework?" She gestured to the papers on the table and Annabeth nodded; they weren't as close as before, Thalia used to be like Annabeth's sister but they drifted apart after last year's Killer incidents, and now they were more like acquaintances than sisters.

Annabeth realize she change a lot and learned a lot from Killer; there was some things to be taken seriously and some things that needed to be watch; she learned how to be more cautious and less trusting of her mates, family and even herself because you always think you know someone and in the they surprised you. Like Percy, like her dad, like Jennifer, like Piper, like Reyna…a lot of things has spiraled of control simply because she underestimated someone and sat too high on her horse, now she knew to be more calculating and able to read people easily.

Thalia changed too, her dark, dry humorous personality turn even more dark; secretive, now as if she was hosting some sort of secret club and that glint in her pretty blue eyes scared Annabeth even more; she was different now.

"Yeah," Annabeth said with a force smile, "Of course," But of course Annabeth knew that Thalia changed too and she got a feeling she wouldn't like it.

* * *

Jason groaned and his eyes flickered open, his body was envelope by sheets and his shirt was off his body. The second thing he realizes was a girl in the same bed as he was in, and that the only clothing items she was wearing was lacy lingerie and that the girl was Piper.

_The hell? _Jason sat up in shock and stare at Piper who was sleeping soundly, curling in his bed with the blankets and then the memories came flying back. He remembered now; they kissed and then Jason pulled her closer, wrapping her with his arms and holding her tight as their tongues fought for dominance. They wrestled up to the stairs and slammed into the room and…yeah, one thing led to another.

After a whirlwind of reminders of what happened a few hours ago, Jason rubbed onto Piper's arm to shake her awake, she moaned in annoyance. "Don't wanna,"

He kissed her softly on the cheeks, "Wake up," His soft lips brushed over her ear and he whispered, "You need to go back to school,"

She stirred a bit, turning over to face him and her eyes fluttered open; revealing a nice shade of icy blue in her eyes to mirror his sky blue eyes. "I don't want to," She said with a soft smile as he played with long dark hair and stroking her chin to lift it up and pecking her lips. "You're making it harder to leave you know," She remarked cheekily.

"So you want me to stop it?" He asked her while planting more kisses down her jawline.

"Do you want me to go or not?"

"Good point," He chuckled as he stopped and threw the covers off, revealing their half-naked bodies. Piper let out another annoyed groan as she stretched and smirked when Jason got up, revealing his pale toned body. "Admiring something?"

"Aren't you modest?" Piper snorted as she picked up her spare shirt and put it back on. She wiggles back into her jeans and use her fingers to comb through her messy dark hair. He went downstairs to get some food ready for her, and Piper smiled to herself, he really was sweet.

Her phone lay on the bedside table, she stared at it and somehow looking at her phone it reminded her off all the text messages that Thalia had been sending…it proves that Thalia wasn't Killer and neither was Bianca but they were trusted- maybe they were loyal servants of Killers. But one thing was clear that Constance Clique was some girly club it was a club full of spies and people who hated Jennifer or her inner circle and she's _in _that club and she was behind enemy lines.

She needed to tell Annabeth and Reyna- she had no doubt that Killer was coming back with a new edge- she needed to tell them about what the heck was going on and what was happening, who was involved- all the questions need to be answered. One way to do things was to steal that creepy, pedophile folder with all their pictures in it and get those phones, so after getting dressed and applying back her lip balm, taking her phone and sneaking out of the bedroom soundlessly.

Piper slowed her breathing, her pace getting slower with every step. She could hear Jason preparing some noodles down stairs, shuffling around and the sound of hot water boiling.

Piper quickly made her way across the halls and opens the door of Thalia's black room; she hurried towards the same cupboard she opened earlier and expected to see the folders and the phone and the gun but instead it wasn't there…

Her brow furrowed and she nearly whooped in shock, exclaiming a, "_What?_" Before a beep emerge from her phone and she fumbled into her bag to take out her phone and there was a new message send by an anonymous person.

Three guesses who it is.

Piper saw there was a photo linked to it and she saw herself holding up a liquor bottle and drinking it, her legs splayed out and she looked pretty much like her fourteen and fifteen year old self again.

The ultimatum was dropped:

**Hey Pipes,**

**Guess I beat you to it, this is no longer some amateur game Tammie intended on winning (nothing ever goes right for the poor girl, right?), I can reassure you that. **

**I have one little prediction for you: **

**Halloween, times of tricks**

**Where your secrets hang by a thread**

**It's time for my treats**

**To see three little girls dead**

**Oh and by the way, Pipes, can you tell me how would your dad react to this picture on the Internet?**

**-Killer**

* * *

"Remember the deal, Grace?" Luke asked quietly as the hooded figure came up to him, her face was masked by the shadow of the hood but her vivid blue eyes stood out in the darkness, shining ahead like blue fireflies guiding him in the dark of the woods.

"Don't be too greedy," Thalia Grace grumbled as she took out the hood, her pale face standing out as a wicked smile perked at the corner of her lips, in her hand was a sack of money and her clothes were positively dark, like black night curtains had wrapped her up. "Remember what you're supposed to do?" She sneered as Castellan reached out for the money bag and she held it out of his reach, a Glock handgun flashed out and was at the end of Luke's throat, one of her fingers tight on the trigger.

Luke swallowed a lump; somehow he really doubts Thalia would ever hesitate to press the trigger if he ever angers her. It was obvious that Thalia's quota of patience has reached its limits and she just really wanted him to hand her the photos and Chase's laptop and gave him the amount of money he demanded in return and ask him to bugger off.

"Give it to me and I'll give you the money," She growled

"You first," Thalia nearly rolled her eyes at his jab to be noble. Admirable surely but stupid, he was being held by gun point and he was still trying to grasp the upper hand.

"Castellan, do you think you are in any position to bargain?" She asked with her pointed stare and she couldn't help but add a self-satisfactory smirk at the end of her line.

"Fine," He snapped, the blonde boy took out the silver Mac laptop that belonged to Annabeth Chase, some photos of the party and Ms. Chase's precious cell phone from his bag pack and handed it to her, she tossed him the bag of money when she received those items. He ripped open the sack and saw the money, stacks and columns of American Dollars, all printed in one hundred dollar bills and all in cash.

"Good," Thalia remarked when she flipped through the images, "And remember Luke," She said softly, her tongue lapping on his first name and those cerulean eyes met her vivid blue ones, "We were never here,"

* * *

**So yeah, Killer just got even deadlier. Halloween got creepier. Luke is actually working for Killer. Thalia's a baddie. Bianca's a baddie. But the questions still linger?! WHO THE FRIGGING HELL IS THE ULTIMATE BADDIE?**

**Sorry, not gonna tell you...at least it clears up, sort of, that Jason isn't- not anymore- a baddie, at least not intentionally; like he really wants to hurt Piper. But I can't wait to drop the big bomb; don't own anything as usual! **

**Here's a hint I might give you to expect for this years Eve of the Hallows:**

**Someone might die.**

**Guess who?**

**-Savvy**


	14. Not Safe Anymore

**Song suggestions: **

**Kill All Your Friends- My Chemical Romance**

**Hands of Time- Rachel Diggs**

**Wicked Ways- Gemma Hays**

Chapter 14

Not Safe Anymore

Rachel smiled at Annabeth as they entered the decorated assembly hall. It really was a magnifying sight, red and gold lights kept flashing around the room, dark streamers hung at the ceiling, big and bright glow in the dark orange pumpkins at each corner, the white tables with people chatting and relaxing, the DJ spinning things for the dances on the floor, the walls were painted black; littered with Halloween monster wanted photos and the advertising posters for the dance and the crowd itself was amazing.

"I have to give you credit for designing this," Rachel chuckled as she stepped forward into the hall with Annabeth and dance music pumped into Annabeth's ears as she grin wider. There was even a fortune teller near the right corner, some games right round the room where people can spend money on games and the drinks and food section worked spectacularly- just like how Annabeth envisioned the dance to be. It really did turn out amazing.

They were dressed from head-to-toe in their costumes, Annabeth decided to go Hua Mulan- she had her hair up in a typical Chinese bun tied up with a dark green ribbon, she wore a simple linen Renaissance villager top with a leather belt, some knee-length dark green trousers and combat boots (it was her best Mulan impression). She put very little makeup; some concealer on her eyes and some nude lip-gloss on her lips.

Rachel, on the other hand, was dressed as a Harry Potter character. Her red hair in pigtail plaits; vivid and bright, she wore dark wizarding robes with the Hogwarts crest embroidered on the left side of the robes, she wore a simple white button down top, a gray vest, a red and gold tie, a black pleated skirt and black boots. Her green eyes were radiant, shining brilliantly through her doe shape eyes. Her pale skin contrasted with her dark wizard robes, and she wore hot pink lips and black eyeliner.

"Why thank you," Annabeth pretended to bow as she laughed, then their dates arrived. Luke look great; he also was thinking along the same lines with Rachel because his pale blonde hair was slicked back, he wore black wizarding robes with the same crest and white button down top but with a black vest, a green and silver stripe tie, and black trousers. He grinned at her but at the corner of her eye she couldn't help but noticed how good Percy looked in his blue Frankenstein outfit. "Hey Percy and Luke,"

"What do you mean Luke?" Luke said in a faux British accent, "I'm Draco Malfoy, how dare you confuse me with some filthy muggle- my father will hear about this!" He pouted in a spoilt child way as Annabeth choked on her laughter; it was a very good Draco Malfoy impression.

Rachel chuckled, "Okay, so you're Malfoy and I'm Ginny,"

"No I thought you were Lily Evans," Percy said with a childish grin as he led Rachel off to the dance floor and Rachel waved back; leaving Annabeth alone with Luke.

"Shall we go dance?" She asked Luke in a nostalgic tone, her eyes slightly watery as his blue eyes sparkled at her.

"Of course," He said smoothly, still in that faux British accent of his that made Annabeth cracked a smile and rolled her gray eyes.

* * *

"Leo, I'm sorry," Piper apologized for the past five times as Leo Valdez huffed as he ate some of the tortilla chips, her pretty eyes flashed into a luminous gold color and her face masked into a pleading expression.

"You didn't have to deal with annoying freshmen bugging you about the goddamn thing all the time!" Leo snarled, his face was masked into a forlorn expression as he fixed his spandex.

Piper inhaled a sharp breath and for a moment Leo thought she was going to snapped at him; saying some excuse in a rude tone but instead she simply said, "I'll make it up to you," She said simply, her eyes turning into an elusive shade of gray, not like Annabeth's, which eyes' are freaky, instead it was clear and bright, like limpid tears.

"How?"

"Well, I'll deal with the casting and annoying freshmen," Piper replied simply, brushing a loose feather from her dark hair. "You know because I write the script, I made the characters so I should know who can play them best- it fits actually," She shrugged nonchantly, she smiled sheepishly at him.

"That's…pliable." Leo said slowly, it was rather _fair. _"And I read the script, it's excellent; all the characters aren't as shallow as I thought they would be- they have the dynamics, it's not easy writing about rich aristocrats and their special lives,"

"Oi, I'm one of those people and you pegged me as shallow?" Piper scoffed, mock offense on her face as Leo rolled his eyes. "You broke my heart…"

"Clearly," Leo said sarcastically. "Anyway, casting is tomorrow and-"

That was when it started.

He was just starting to go through the schedule for tomorrow weekend schedule when he heard the first scream coming from the doors. The horrible wailing; a screeched that nearly made his ears bleed bounced off the wall of the schools and echoed through the assembly room and it was so loud that the DJ actually shut the music.

They all looked confounded about the screaming as one of the teachers who was supervising the dance so nothing could get out of hand ran forward towards the door but she never got there as a silver dot whizzed past, ricocheting the left wall of the room and blasting one of the pumpkins open.

Then the screaming started as they enter. Piper's fingers started to go white as she clenched a fistful amount of his retro button down top, the people with masks started walking in and the mask they were wearing wasn't your typical monster Halloween mask…they were masks of Piper's, Annabeth's and Reyna's ginning faces…but their eyes have been cut off and devil horns were drawn on their heads, silver Glock handguns were whipped out into sight and that was when the screaming increased.

Everyone ran towards the door, the one at the back corner near the DJ booth and it was pure mayhem; everyone ran- rushing for the back door when they could squeeze. It was sick, they were just randomly firing bullets everyone and there wasn't anyone who seemed to be slowing down to help those who got unlucky.

Piper let out a simpering noise besides him; those masks…especially with the one with her smiling face on it. "Damn these slippers," She cursed her Native Indian styled gladiators as she let out a shaky breath. Leo watched in horror as the masked killers engaged with such travestied killing; shooting randomly as people screamed; scrambling in fear and running as they beckoned closer towards the front of the room and their psychotic masks bright in the red, sinister light.

"Hide here," Leo tapped underneath one of the tables and Piper nodded with her eyes white with fear as they crawled underneath. Leo could barely keep himself from shaking so much as screams pierced his ears, the sound will haunt him from the rest of his life. Leo prayed with all of his heart that Piper and him would be safe under the table, that those mass-murdering, masked killers would just walked on by with their flashy guns in their hands.

He didn't care who was listening- God, Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi, Buddha; even the Greek Gods- as long as they remained safe.

* * *

Reyna was feeling even more stressed than ever, her body seemed to seize up as she take her wet hands up and pressed them on her face; the cold water splashed upon the worry lines as she glance up into the mirror to study her face.

Her face was dripping wet; she took out a packet of tissues and pressed it on her face. She wiped off the dripping water on her face and disposed it on the trash bin. She sighed; she could hear the loud, dancing music throbbing so vividly in the auditorium. She was dressed as Audrey Hepburn for the Halloween Dance, her dark hair pinned up in a 5o's, retro classic Princess Diana sort of style, her graceful, prominent chin exposed because of her hair pulled back and she wore a classic, body-con black dress that made her long lean body figure even better and her long legs exposed so nicely as she just recently strode in tall and pretty into the auditorium; commanding and powerful.

It struck her how much command she got- just like Jennifer. Of course, Reyna knew she had possessed the same Queenly, regal beauty as Jennifer had; just the way how they use the beauty was different. Reyna was more warlike, and Jennifer had her cold, sinister touch to it. They watched her with fascination and Reyna felt her stomach bubble, not with excitement and victory but that sick sensation in her stomach that made her feel like she wanted to puke there and then.

She dissolved all of the bile in her throat down the toilet; she came out and washed her face. Reyna couldn't convince herself it was due to stress; because she was _used _to stress. She had once been the manager of the her mother's catering business for her mother's debutante gala while filing the guest lists of the twenty thousand closest friends of the White's, she also dance through the filing guest lists and managing catering while doing an intern job for her father's law firm and also dealing with Hylla's college meltdowns.

She could literally just conga her way down the line of putting together the dance, Reyna wanted to avoid the dance- she really just wanted to be in her dorm, dressed in casual t-shirts and pajama shorts to work out the gun issue and the coded letters that she found in her father's dresser. Reyna White live to plan social events and charter them, not to go to them but of course Annabeth wouldn't hear of it and lagged her down to the auditorium in her decent Audrey Hepburn impression.

But the atmosphere just got colder as Reyna pulled the bobby pins out of her bun, the gel up stubborn loose locks of dark hair fell out of her bun as she took out the bigger pin and her long mane of dark hair fell down to her shoulders.

Bianca Di Angelo strode in to the bathroom with a delighted, somehow demented smile as Reyna took out some loose hair ties in her purse to braid her hair. "No more Audrey Hepburn?" She chuckled merrily as Reyna gave her an uneasy smile. Bianca went to the sink that was the closest to Reyna. "I like you better as Audrey, more sophisticated,"

"Are you trying to say I'm not sophisticated?"

"Is that what you think I'm implying I'm not sophisticated?"

A sinister smirk curled at Bianca's lips as Reyna's face was parallel with her but Reyna was still taller than her but regarding the height matter Bianca was still more intimidating.

Bianca wore a girl's version of a devil's costume, a black tight mini dress with a red belt that has a red tail at the end rear, dark red boots, she carried a red devil pitch fork, and of course devil horns. Her dark hair was in ironed curls, and she wore dark red rich lipstick. "Well, depends," was her response.

"Listen Bianca," Reyna snapped, "Stop it with all of the text messages and the threats,"

Bianca did a good job of looking surprise, an eyebrow arched up, "What do you mean?" Sugar and candy lace on her words but Reyna could still feel the venom injected in those words.

"I know you're Killer," Reyna let out a trace of whisper dragged on as Bianca reapply the lip gloss and whirled back to her with newly energized red lips.

"Surprise, surprise, Regina," Bianca said as she roll her eyes. "You always think you know things but you don't, what makes you think I'm Killer?"

Reyna took a shaky breath, rage coursing through her veins but her demeanor was cool- confident. Wow, is this how Jennifer felt when she was at her power? "You call me Regina, you know _something," _Reyna replied coolly.

"I know something," Bianca stepped closer to Reyna and Reyna caught a whiff of her spicy banana perfume. "Doesn't mean I know everything,"

"You don't scare me," Reyna shot her down, taking a closer step towards Bianca and saw a fleet of fear in her eyes. Reyna clicked her teeth in satisfactory, "Never ever underestimate me Bianca, and remember I still have a tape of you admitting to Jennifer that you had an affair with Kadden,"

"I ended it so he could be safe," Bianca snarled, her smirking face morphed into an expression as nasty as her threat. "It's finished!"

"It might be," Reyna said vindictively, "But it _did _happen, he could still be charged and little Kadden would be locked up for a good long ten years," This bit was true, and Reyna should know- her mother and father were lawyers and she knew the rules book from back to front.

Harsh tears nearly spilled out of her eyes and Reyna felt a little uncomfortable, she might have gone a _bit too far. _"It's hilarious how much you sound like Jennifer right now," Bianca let out a mad laugh, teeth showing and eyes sparkling. "But I guess sisters take after one another, right?"

Reyna injected a revengeful smirk here, her dark eyes sharp and cautious. Bianca's cold brown eyes might be icy and scary but Reyna's eyes was the one who parried with Bianca's; clashing like swords and it was clear who was starting to win. "Di Angelo, at this little game it's good to be like Jennifer,"

And with that pride bubbling in her stomach, she walked out of the bathroom. Her dark hair in a braid and her guts soaring; feeling victorious and she was right. At this point, against Bianca, Killer- whoever the hell is out there; she must start playing like Jennifer or not she'll lose.

And also because Jennifer _always _win.

* * *

It took hours for everyone to calm down.

The shooters have disappeared but they still left a cold, menacing chill in the air that felt like they were still there. The despair was all over the place, they were too many injured, too many people who gotten shot in places but they were the lucky ones.

Apparently, five were shot dead, three hundred injured (yes, you heard right- _three hundred!) _and about fifty more were in shock or in a state of grief for the deceased.

Screams echoed through the outside gardens everywhere Annabeth when, the sick nausea hit her so hard- harder than a brick wall. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she made her way out of the Entrance Hall, Rachel clutching her hand tight as Rachel shook in pure state of shock. Her hands kept shaking and she kept whispering, "Where's Percy?" The redhead was horrified of the shooting.

Annabeth couldn't blame her or mock her for being in such a state. She glance up, police cars were swarming everywhere. Blue and red flashes of lights were blinding her eye sight but she didn't care, she just prayed that everyone she knew was fine. But she couldn't help but blame herself for this; _this was Killer's rage- this is **your entire** fault. _

Fresh sparkling tears were racked her body; she didn't give a goddamn thing about whether if people mock her for crying. She was so damn tired of this, it was exhausting. And seeing everyone screaming, crying or grieving in such a horrible way was simply sickening. Killer was sickening. It made her stomach empty and her mind blackened; she wasn't used to this. The _mystery, _trying to find things in the dark and the paranoia; she used to feel so safe around everything, she was always able to find a question to the answer and now all she could see lay before her was Killer being an unanswered math question that would always come back to bug her.

Rachel was sobbing; some of the bodies were being covered with plastic bags and carried out on a stretcher, Annabeth felt the world grew colder as they went closer to the stretcher.

She went closer towards the stretcher, a crowd of people was encompassing it as the nurses was hurrying around the stretcher. Rachel ran blindly towards the crowd of people and Annabeth followed suit.

Annabeth felt herself loosing with the internal war as she stared in deep shock of who was dead on the stretcher. His tuft of black hair was visible in the mass of grass, his eyes were wide open- the irises were sea-green but they lost their sparks and the light in them, his features were solidly handsome and he had a lean muscular built. A big red hole; the size of a bullet was cut deep into the place where his heart was supposed to be.

Rachel's cries of terror and grief were the worst blow, not his death. "_No, no!" _Rachel screamed, kicking everybody who was trying to restrain her from going to him and hold him tight. _"It can't be! He can't be gone! No, please!" _The excruciating pain was enough to bring everyone into tears, Annabeth shook her head in denial as Rachel threw herself onto the grass, her sobs were deafening, her begging pleads was almost too harmful to watch.

"Rachel," Annabeth comforted, trying to calm the girl who was now beating the ground with her fists. "He's gone; Percy's dead."

She hated how icy her voice sounded.

* * *

**I admit that writing the last bit has nearly got me reaching for tissues. Nearly. So yes, Percy's dead. You're all probably going to explode at me. Rachel's reaction to it was the hardest to write...**

**:( Sorry to end Percy's life...but this Killer (or Killers?) is heartless. **

**I want you all to tell me all of your reactions to the shooting and of course, Percy's death. And I am gutsy enough to kill him off...you'll be madder at me to see who are the other four who is dead. Believe me...**

**Don't own anything as always and remember reviews are better than updates. **

**-Savvy**

**P.S: Don't kill me. **


	15. Wicked Games

**Song Suggestion: **

**Spiderweb by Haley Reinhart**

**Rules by Jaymee Dee**

**Wicked Games by Gemma Hayes. **

Chapter 15

Wicked Games

_Travis Stoll_

_Katie Gardiner_

_Grover Underwood_

_Drewera Tanaka_

_Percy Jackson_

It was call the biggest massacre in Connecticut ever, parents were in hysteria- arriving and when they realize their children were dead; they all broke into a mass of sobs, valleys of deranged cries and that horrible wailing sound that was similar to an agonizing plead.

Piper had never felt so uncomfortable, she was gasping on her breath- trying to regain most of her sanity as the paramedic besides her bandage a damage wrist. She was sitting up on the cotton white, fluffy linen hospital bed. She was alive, that was a miracle- somehow; the masked killers (she still couldn't get over the fact that they came in wearing masks of her face) had ignored her and Leo under the table. Her prayer to the Cherokee Gods must have worked; she thanked her father silently for telling her about them.

Her mother, Aphrodite, had tears streaming down her pale cheeks and for once her mother wasn't in her usual shimmering self. Her tan skin had gone pale and blotchy, her face was covered in smudge mascara and eyeliner and her hair was in a messy knot as if she had never touch a comb in her life.

She left the hospital room, and went down the corridors, the significant smell of lemon bleach in her nose. She never did like the hospital; even though she only visited the hospital once, she didn't like it because it made her think about all of the patients that was so hopeful about living and being healthy again but only succumbed to death.

It made her think that hope was sometimes not there; you know what they say about hope- it breeds eternal misery.

Her mother was clinging to Piper's hand, shaking with shock as Silena tried her best to calm her down. They were walking down a corridor; heading towards the Visitor's Entrance or we can just call it the reception to sign Piper out.

Piper had been reading off the list of people who died in the shooting, Annabeth delivered the list to her personally. Piper knew Annabeth was deeply shaken; Annabeth might be oblivious to the fact that she still love Percy but Piper could see it in those fierce grey eyes. And the fact that Rachel was one of Annabeth's friends…Piper could nearly feel the unbearable pain Annabeth was experiencing if Percy was Jason. Or maybe the pain was from her wrist.

She broke her wrist while crawling under the table, she had hit it to hard against one of the legs and it was an effort not to cry out, luckily Leo had his hand on her mouth.

But the thing that has really hit the most was Drew's death.

She never really did like Drew (one could probably snort in the background and mutter 'Understatement'), she hated every single thing Drew stood for and her nose always flared in annoyance whenever Drew bullied on the freshmen. Jennifer never picked on the weaker ones, she just ignore them but she would utterly destroy whoever got in her way of her reign or had a problem with her- a lot of people did had a problem with her, but they were wise enough not to publicize it; no one was stupid enough to compete or pick a bone with Jennifer. You wouldn't last a second.

Jennifer was also extremely loyal, despite her nasty streak (one can argue it wasn't a streak, it was a hobby); Piper was being provoked by Tammie and Kara with some racist joke about Cherokees and a few snubbing comments about her drunkard father (oh how they have no idea), the next day Tammie and Kara were too embarrassed to show their faces in school and that Jennifer had spread rumors about both of them being boys in disguise, that they were drags. Of course it wasn't true but it didn't stop some of the immature boys to ask them to show them the…um, fake male parts.

Piper had to admit it, even though it was a bit extreme for revenge, it was hilarious.

Drew was one of those typical Queen Bees, pretty and shallow; but one thing was different. She didn't have an IQ of a blonde Queen Bee bimbo, she was actually was gifted in athermancy, advance math, psychology and art or not if she didn't, she would be given a boot by the Academy.

A part of her felt deeply sorry for Drew, even if she was sort of shallow and a bully, she didn't deserve death but yet in the dark wells of her heart- she felt slightly happy that Drew was dead. No more harassing posts from Butterfly Crush, no more freshmen bursting into tears…it was fine, right?

But Piper shook her head and muttered softly to her own self "Stop it," She couldn't allow herself to think like that, it was psychopathic thinking- _Killer_ thinking.

* * *

Annabeth felt shaken after the shooting but what really did sent shivers down to her core was Rachel's reaction to Percy's death.

She completely lose control of herself, they had to inject drugs into her to calm her done and put her into sleep; it had been decided that Rachel would be taking a few weeks off school and in an asylum so she would be nursed back to her sane health and be free of the trauma of the shooting. Poor Rachel, Annabeth thought somberly as they wheeled the poor girl off into an ambulance.

Seeing Rachel loose herself like that…it was scary. It also bring back a memory that had been left untouched in her mind.

She remembered it clearly in her head now.

_"Jennifer!" Annabeth hissed silently, whacking the dark haired beauty as they all gathered together as a group inside the cramped storage room of the Browns household. "I said no and for the last time it's no,"_

_"It's just one kiss, Annabeth," Jennifer said with a roll of her eyes. "Is that too much to ask?"_

_"I'm sorry if I didn't fancy kissing Anthony Bighead Malcolm," Annabeth growled as Piper kicked Annabeth to be silent._

_"It's just part of the plan," Piper pleaded, "Just play on; Reyna and my part is finished- don't ruin it," The last bit was in angry tone as if she wanted to get out of the closet already._

_Reyna sighed; she had a perfect poker face on but one thing was certain; Reyna was begin to get annoyed with Annabeth constant buggering attempts of 'no's'._

_"Come on Annabeth," Jennifer's tone was sharp, "Don't make me regret the day I invited you to the sleepover, without me Luke won't even notice you," Jennifer sneered while Annabeth felt like a dagger had been stabbed in her stomach. Luke was always a sensitive topic for Annabeth; she had an uncontrollable crush on him ever since she was seven. And Jennifer bringing him up was like acid washed on her skin- no one, not even Jennifer would be cruel enough to dangle it around her like that. Unfortunately, that hope had been short-lived._

_"Stop it," Reyna's tone almost as sharp as Jennifer, her eyes hardened at the sight of Jennifer while Piper's eyes widened. "But just do it, Annabeth,"_

_"It's not like we're asking you to commit murder," Piper remarked._

_"Fine," Annabeth gave in and Jennifer smirked._

_"Perfect," Jennifer clasped her fingers together and led them outside of the storage room._

_It was the annual Brown's Halloween Bash, so typically all of their middle school friends were there and dressed up that night. Jennifer went for the whole dark princess theme; her dark hair combed back and held up in a tousled Classical pin-up bun, maroon lips classic dark eyeliner that winged at the tip of those grey-ish green irises; she wore a velvet green dress with trumpet sleeves and gold trimmings along with gold heels and her golden diadem sat gracefully on her head without an effort._

_Annabeth had decided to dress as one of her all time favourite book characters- Hermione Granger. Her hair was frizzy and she had her parents rented the Hogwarts robes from the nearby costume store._

_Piper went as Cat Woman, she wore black tight leather jeans, a black top and cat ears headband. Her dark hair wrapped in a high ponytail._

_Reyna was a Roman Queen, with the toga and golden leaf circlet, her hair wrapped in tousles._

_Ke$ha pumped out of the stereo, Annabeth tried to catch a glimpse of the victim's vibrant red hair and she had to swallow a lump in her throat, the thoughts swirling at what she had to do._

_It has been three months since their first sleepover, and Annabeth was still trying to get use to the popularity enforce on her. She wasn't use to the reflection she sees in the mirror. Her soft blonde hair cascaded in slick waves use to be an oily, greasy mess, her large gray eyes were hidden by horn-rimmed glasses and now she wear clear contact lenses and of course now everyone could look at her and say, "That's Annabeth Chase," But of course, being friends with Jennifer has it's catches._

_Like this._

_It was another one of Jennifer's ruthless games; they called it 'Rite of Passage'. You see Annabeth lived right next to Jennifer and another girl- one of her classmates- her name was Rachel Dare._

_Rachel was one of those girls who run away from the Queen Bees- meaning them but they do converse sometimes. Like when Rachel invited her family to go for the Dare BBQ Backyard Picnic or when Annabeth asked her if she could borrow Rachel's huge art set for her art project, overall Rachel was nice. She's not necessarily one of the girls who was popular not at the bottom of the food chain but she did hang around with some of the girls in the Artsy category like Juniper Berry, Grover Underwood and Lou Ellen._

_However, Rachel managed to wedge herself in Jennifer's Must-Destroy list because of Anthony Malcolm. Apparently Jennifer fancied him but then of course before Jennifer could ask him out and they've been dating for two months and Jennifer had been absolutely furious. She had gritted her teeth and kept barking out questions, "Who the hell is she? Some red-head little be-yotch?"_

_"She had been your neighbour for four years, Jen," Annabeth responded wearily but of course it didn't smother her anger._

_ So the plan was launched, operation break-up Rathony (Couple name for: Rachel and Anthony) had got into action. Reyna invited both Anthony and Rachel to Jennifer's Halloween Bash, Piper would be keeping Rachel busy so Annabeth could talk to Anthony and when the clock strike midnight, Piper would lead Rachel into the living room where Annabeth and Anthony would be there as Rachel enters Annabeth would be kissing Anthony resulting their breakup._

_Annabeth felt like a horrid person._

* * *

It had been a few days since the shooting and Reyna knew from that moment on- when the first shot rang clearly in the hallways- that this little Cat and Mouse game with Killer having an upper hand was no longer some silly amateur blackmailing.

It was murder; cold-blooded murder and Reyna had never been fueled with such rage- she wanted to strike back at Killer.

God, can one hate someone so much?

Reyna wrapped a large scarf around her shoulders, still cold even though she was sitting near the fireplace, had a scarf draped around her and have a steaming mug of hot tea in front of her.

The school has close down for the whole of next week, most of the students had been taken to the hospital and was left at home to rest while the ones that weren't hurt was recovering from trauma. Reyna's family was busy in New York, her parents had some meeting with the Deans of the University of Yale about some conference, Hylla was off on a paradise vacation with her new fiancé and neither of them had bothered to fly down to Connecticut to ask if she was alright.

Oh, and she despised them too.

Reyna would've bet her laptop they really wouldn't give a damn if she was one of the five who got shot; they were more obsessed with themselves. She was staying at a motel nearby the school, in a few days she would be going back to school and hopefully things would get back to normal.

Normal her arse.

The sound of twinkling bells rippled through the coffee house as a blonde and a brunette stepped through, Reyna tilted her head up so she can identify their faces and they were indeed the people she had invited over.

Piper and Annabeth looked shriveled up by the cold, Piper wore a large red sweater with words in yellow bright words screamed out 'Australia', thick jeans, black boots and red puffy earmuffs. Her long hair had been recently chopped again, Reyna was shocked it wasn't Piper's typical choppy Garfield-scissors expertise on it That it was a simple haircut- maybe Piper's mother Aphrodite have finally cut the Garfield scissors habit out and didn't let her near a Garfield scissors at all.

Annabeth wore one of her simple black leather jacket over a long sleeve animated gray owl top, a white beanie on her head, tights with a wool skirt and simple cotton boots, her long gold hair shimmered brightly against the cold, dull night. Though Annabeth had changed a lot these past days, the girl who was fit and slightly curvy was now bony and thin as if she hadn't been eating for a few days, her curly energetic hair had been washed out and lifeless and her face has fell into the lines of misery. Annabeth was one of the girls she really looked up to; she was intelligent and smart though sometimes a bit proud and arrogant about herself. She usually had that intelligent spark in her eyes, the wanton thirst for knowledge and power was always there and her fierce expression as a warrior and Reyna knew that sort of fire in the gray eyes and that expression; she saw it on herself all the time but now the blonde has finally lost that fire and ferocity.

The life had been sucked out of Annabeth, leaving a shell of nothingness.

"Hey," Piper greeted with a warm smile at Reyna as she sat down on the couches. "How are you?"

"Fine, and you?"

"Great," Piper responded and glanced worriedly at Annabeth as she sat down on the other couch next to Reyna without a word, "How about you Annabeth?"

"Good," Annabeth said tonelessly.

Piper and Reyna exchanged faces, but decided to leave her as she is.

"So do we agree that Killer is behind the shooting?" Piper said immediately after she ordered some coffee.

"There's three of them," Reyna clarified, "They can't have three Killers running around, right? And Killer seems like a private person; she doesn't seem to share a lot,"

"Killer's assistants?"

"Killer is not the type who have assistants; she's independent, right?" Annabeth spoke up quietly, her tone still lifeless but her face carved into an emotion that could've been a grimace.

"So Killer is back and so are we," Piper concluded, and she dropped her tone into a mutter, "Guess we're back to being Charlie's Angels,"

Reyna grinned slightly at the thought, "So back to the search?" She asked, knowing Piper was willing to join in. the question was more or less directed to Annabeth's who eyes was as vulnerable as glass.

"I supposed so," She said testily. "But this time we'll have a bigger team and-"

"Jason was working with Killer," Piper blurted out unexpectedly. And Reyna blinked at her; not the fact that Piper has gone bonkers but that Jason was working with Killer. When you are in the league of a psychopathic killer, this sort of shit get to you.

But Jason- out of all the backstabbing assholes out there- it was Jason. Jason, the guy who would never ever play against the rules, was- had worked with a complete psycho. She knew Jason ever since she was tiny, he was her best friend and he was once her lover; she knew that little angel could be trouble sometimes- Okays a lot of trouble- but Jason was no traitor. He was too obedient and he love Piper…"But he's on our side now…I think, but we have more pressing matters- Thalia is one of them,"

"What?" Annabeth snapped, a hint of emotion seeped into her voice.

"She hates Killer and so did Bianca,"

"Great now we have three people on our backs," Reyna groaned, her fingers pressed on her temples, "Maybe even four, you know what call Jason and I'll call Leo,"

"Why?" Piper asked quizzically as Reyna began to stand up, taking the scarf and wrapping it around her throat.

"Because we need a team, Jason makes a perfect candidate to be the Insider on Thalia's I-Hate-Jennifer club and Jason is her brother, it fits,"

"You want Jason to be on her team,"

"Just pretending to be," Reyna summed up as she finished the last bit of her coffee in her mug. "And we'll need a tech guy, Leo is the best option, what do you think Annabeth?" Reyna was desperate for Annabeth to speak, the girl had gone practically mute.

"And we're still Charlie Angels," Piper smiled.

* * *

"Damn it, Thalia, why the woods?" Jason asked repeatedly as they stopped at the opening of Connecticut's Woods. Thalia demanded him to go to the woods with her, all dressed in black and taking Jason's beloved black car.

"Because we have important people to meet at secluded places," Thalia responded, her sharp, pretty face bright in the dark. A large, utility bag pack at comfortably at her legs and she reached down, unzipped the bag and took out two handguns.

Jason's eyes widened, "…Holy Shit…" He mumbled as she pulled the guns out of the safety lock.

Click. Safety.

Click. Deadly.

Funny, how the situation could flip around so easily. She handed him the gun, his fingers slipped around the barrel and he continued to stare at his sister. "Thalia, what the hell is going on?"

"We're meeting the Master…" Thalia muttered and Jason has no idea what was going on.

"Follow me," She opened the car door and stepped out of her shotgun seat and Jason has no choice but to shut down the car, take the key out of it's ignition and stepped out of the car. He quickly locked the car and followed his sister even though he was thoroughly confused.

Remember, Jason- Thalia's part of some secret, evil organization and they think you're a part of this. Jason recalled the words Piper has spoke to him about it, something about being the mole in the organization.

"Why do I need a gun- wait, that came out wrong why do you have two guns?" Jason asked, annoying his sister to a point where she flicked him at the back of his throat with her fingers. "Ow!"

"You dweeb!" She hissed, rolling her violent blue eyes. "Stop that, look," She paused for a moment and look at him full in the face, her eyes wide with misery and fear. For a moment, Jason was afraid she was going to tell the truth. "We're going to meet Killer and updates on what we're going o do and the guns are for…" She hesitated, trying to find the right word that describes what she was trying to explain, "Necessary pre-cautions,"

"Oh," Jason said in a small voice, knowing what 'necessary pre-cautions' really meant. Do this for Piper; her safety is basically lying in this psycho's hands. "Is she giving me the money for my last debut…?"

Thalia nodded, "Yeah," She pursed her lips together. "And your next job," So he had to pretend, pretend to be Killer's little puppet for a while- gather information. And he have to make it convincing, because he had a gut feeling that if Killer ever finds out who's sides he really was on- he'll be dead.

* * *

**This is pretty much a chapter reflecting on the massacre that happened last chapter. So here is the recap of what happen:**

**Jason is on Piper's side- again and well, they're still trying to figure out where their relationship is at and he's pretending to be Killer's spy while he's really doing it for Piper. YAY!**

**Annabeth is on the brink of depression, the massacre has obviously shook her and Rachel's breakdown shook her even more and of course Percy's death. Why? Well, they weren't really on good terms during the last few moments when he was alive right? And Rachel is his GF, and Annabeth's BFF. That stuff could mess up your head. **

**Reyna is becoming almost as manipulative and cunning as Jennifer, good and bad. You NEED to be manipulative against Killer but it can also bring you to the dark side (insert cookie joke here). However, she's getting closer and closer than ever to finding out her shady past. **

**Piper is confuse. There's Jason, and there's Drew's death- which makes her Queen Bee; oh and did I mention her thoughts are warping up into Killer's? Like Drew deserved to die after all she did to people..muahahahah! **

**On the brighter side of things, team Charlie Angels are back! Haha...Charlie Angels, good one Savvy, good one. So as you can see- this was much darker than the last one. Reyna becoming obsessed over finding who Killer is and who she is- as Regina Brown, Piper's deep dark side of no remorse on Drew's death, Annabeth going near the verge of suicide and stuff. ;)**

**Reviews are like Sirius Black. **

**Don't own anything. **

**-Savvy**


	16. Fifty-Hundred Thousand

**Song Suggestion:**

**Billionaire by Travis Mccoy**

**Where the Lonely ones Roam by Digital Daggers**

MoneChapter 16

Fifty Hundred Thousand

Piper and Leo both winced simultaneously as the squeaky freshmen girl screeched out a horrible wailing sound that was nearly similar to Justin Bieber's premature voice. She was supposed to be screaming out the lines of a girl in tragic despair who just saw her beloved fifteen-year-old brother had a seizure and died of drug overdose; not like a dying cat still going under torture.

"That's lovely," Leo made a face that held a thin line of pure horror and faint politeness. "Um…Kate,"

Piper was amazed by how much self-control he had over of not breaking down in pure frustration of not able to find the perfect person to play a mentally stable girl who suffered from bulimia and the tragic losses of her family. She remembered writing the characters, so far she has came up with six main protagonists- three girls and three boys.

Of course; the storyline did involved around rich kids- no not necessarily 'rich kids' with their boring dilemmas; there was quite a few characters she proud herself on creating.

There were three girls, Lyra Dews, a musically inclined and studious girl who played the cello and is quite determined on getting a scholarship with Julliard; she's intelligent but is rather unsocial and is not as wealthy as the peers around her. She was the 'new girl'. She is said to be pretty but not stunning. She's studious but has a tongue of a firecracker, sharp and witty. She's bitchy but is personally one of Piper's favorite characters; smart and sharp, studious and determined but bitchy and snappy and unsocial. She doesn't really have many friends though Lyra is one of the sassiest girls she has created.

Of course, a show was never complete with the resident Queen Bee/ Not-really-antagonist, Astrid Roslyn, the girl who rule the school without even needing two slave girls behind her to heed. Astrid wasn't Goth or Punk; she just wore slick body-hugging dresses, awesome army utility jackets with khaki army patterns, combat boots and dark makeup. She was vindictive, cunning, and she knew how to win. She was scary, sweet sometimes and scary half of the times. She was very manipulative, like Jennifer. Astrid was Jennifer. Astrid was pretty like Jennifer, sly like Jennifer and she was the Queen Bee without lifting a finger. She was natural, but she was also very vile when she needed to be. Astrid was more of a complex character; she has a…changing personality and one of her darkest secrets was that she was bipolar.

Another one of Piper's personal favorite was the show's main oddity, Effie Orchid. Effie's full name was Elizabeth, instead of calling her something predictable like Beth or Ellie- Piper decided with Effie. Effie was eccentric, full of life and cheerful; she explained things in a very dream like tone yet she was awake and alert than the rest of them. Effie just came out of the hospital after two months since her full recovery from her bulimia meltdown. She was less than forty kilograms of what her real weight should be, Effie was also a lesbian who had a crush on Astrid, who has a boyfriend; so the feeling was not mutual.

It took Piper a complete ten hours to came up with these characters and she loved them. Lyra, the bitchy smart girl, Astrid, the bipolar cunning Queen Bee, and Effie the bulimic odd lesbian- three different people, one show.

And then there were the boys, Alex Orchid, Jaden Hale and Fabian Di Vanrose.

Alex was charismatic, popular, and social unlike Effie who was practically mute around the social hierarchy of the school and Alex was at the top of it but he wasn't the nicest. He was arrogant, he was always mean to people and always bully people who were weaker than he was. He often flirts with girls even though he has a girlfriend. He's Astrid boyfriend, and Effie's brother. He's ruthless to nerds and geeks but he's a softie when it comes to Effie, he's actually quite decent around Effie. He pulls jokes and makes her laugh because he knows that she will need it and he cares for her a lot.

Jaden was Alex's best friend, but he was also always in his shadow. Alex was always on the top and Jaden loathed how he was always second best but he was a loyal best friend; so he tried to hide all of the resenting feelings down. Jaden wasn't the most tactful guy around, he's very blunt and he never ever thinks about things first before doing it.

And last for not least Fabian Di Vanrose, the Goth guy who wore black every day and sulk every minute of the living day. But of course Piper wasn't a big fan of clichés, so Fabian has more dynamic than that. Fabian was oddly quiet, he has a horrid home life. His father was stuck in jail for a first degree murder, his mother was abusive towards him and his sister and every day when he comes home he was living a nightmare.

The whole story centers around the lives of teenagers, but within their storylines there was always another storyline that weaved in- the plot. Astrid, Effie, Alex and Jaden were wealthy kids; they had money while Lyra was a simple girl from the harsh outback of L.A, where all the nasty Latinos or Armenian gangs hang around and Fabian came from a poor abusive home somewhere in Nevada, Lyra got into the school by an academic scholarship recommended to her and Fabian was a charity case. And that's how they were all in the same boarding school.

The plot started with all of the main characters together, excluding Lyra, who wasn't there yet. The plot centers around gang wars, they were all involved in a gang called the 'Solvites'. They were all close friends; Jaden, Fabian and Alex were all mates with Effie and Astrid because they were all in the same gang. However another friend was in their group, her name was Kali; Kali Di Vanrose.

Kali was Astrid's original best friend; Kali was Alex's original girlfriend, Jaden's original crush, Fabian's sister and Effie's secret girl crush. Kali was the 'it' girl; and she were also originally based on Jennifer. Kali was the one who got them all involved in the gang and also got herself killed during one of their secret meetings. The police have no idea what happened.

So far they found an Astrid, who was being played by Bianca Di Angelo, even though Piper begged Leo to let that one go but he said that Bianca was perfect for the role and Piper reluctantly agreed with him in the end; they also found a Lyra, who was being portrayed by a very reluctant Reyna (though Reyna did fit Lyra, being all smart and sensible- the only difference was that Lyra always think she's superior…while Reyna is superior without needing to remind anybody), they picked Will Solace for Alex, Nico Di Angelo for Fabian and Connor Stoll for Jaden.

Now they just needed an Effie and a Kali, and they'll be good to go. So far no one could play a deranged mean girl-sort-of-nice-girl and a bulimic, lesbian version of Luna Lovegood.

"This sucks," Piper said spitefully as the girl-Kate- shuffled out of the room. "No one come even close to playing Effie…"

"She is a difficult character to play," Leo interjected as Juniper Green came into one of the borrowed classrooms they have asked for the auditions.

"Hey guys, I'll be interested in playing Effie," Juniper said chirping as Piper rubbed the temples on her forehead; slightly miffed on Kate's previous performance. "I'll be doing the first scene with Kali conversing with Effie," She said promptly as Piper began to take the script that she had printed out this morning.

"Oh okay, I'll be Kali," Piper said, flicking over to the first scene where Kali and Effie spoke together one on one. Piper cleared her throat and Effie began as Leo surveyed them.

Juniper started off with the first bit of dialogue, "You know Kali, a lot of people think you're very mean,"

"Oh really?" Piper tried to put in how Jennifer would have said it, somewhere between the line of curiosity and haughtiness. "And who are they?"

"Oh you know Justin Polvaski and his crew," Juniper said in a dreamy tone, her large green eyes wide and her smile broadening, "But I don't think you're mean,"

Piper forced out a short laugh, "Thanks for the vote of confidence Effie," Piper read the next line and Juniper was already shooting her next line.

"No, you just love sharing your opinion," Juniper beamed at Piper; it was almost how Piper imagined Effie. Large, wide-eye, blunt (without noticing) and truthful; it was very Effie Orchid.

"Thanks Effie,"

"So are we going to the party, Kali?" Juniper said in an admiring voice, the kind of tone Piper was envisioning when she wrote the script.

"Okay, guys that's enough," Leo said, cutting us short immediately and then he gave Juniper a big smile. "That was great Juniper we'll tell you soon enough if you get the part,"

Juniper nodded and bounced out of the room as Piper sat back in her seat, "She was perfect," Piper admitted as she scribbled down Juniper's name for the role of Effie. "Literally perfect,"

"Yeah and I think we found a Kali too," Leo commented at her, grinning like a madman as it dawned on Piper what he meant and she stared open mouth at him.

"But I can't write and act at the same time!" Piper protested, the role for Kali…well, she couldn't take it. It's almost like asking Jennifer's parents if she could inhabit Jennifer's spirit and become their daughter. The role was simply personal.

"Why not? You worked great with Juniper as Effie and you said so yourself, if you have chemistry with Effie you can have it with anyone," Leo remarked smartly as he rearranged his papers. "Come on Pipes, we can't do another day of casting to look for Kali; we need to move on,"

Piper hesitated for a moment; she never really did give acting a try because it was too close to home. And taking a role like Kali when it was based on Jennifer, it's not like she could say to Leo: well, I based this character on my missing best friend who I'm not sure where she is now; I'm not even sure she's alive and well, I sort of missed her. Trying to be her will be like squashing the respect out of her memory, right? Yep, certainly not. "I don't know…"

Leo pouted, giving her the doggy eyes with his dark brown eyes as Piper let out a defeated sigh. His face light up against as she responded, "Fine…I'll do it. I'll be Kali,"

* * *

Annabeth stared emptily at the documents in front of her, the letters and forms that Reyna had stolen from her father's dresser and tried to sort through them. She was in her new room of a new house her father and that vile Lily, his new fiancé, bought. She would not be spending holidays with Helen, even though Helen wasn't her real mother nor did she get on with her some of the times. Helen was much better company than Lily and Annabeth felt sorry for Helen; who had to spend her days lonely and dark in a new small apartment. Her heart tightened in hatred for her father.

Music flowed out of the new stereo and tears sparked in her eyes when the song If I die young by The Band Perry was played, she quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes as she thought about those killings. God, she hated this. This swelling darkness and depression that has grown in her heart ever since that day when Killer has gave her the first message. She didn't even was sure who Killer was anymore, it was Tammie; but then it wasn't? It's so confusing for once in her life she didn't have the answers to it.

She didn't like knowing. It made her feel like she was hopeless; in the midst of confusion and anxiety. And in the process of finding out what is happening and trying to sort things out, people get hurt; they get killed.

Like Percy.

She did love him, she still do but she made him felt so alone and pushed him away; and he found someone else after months of nothing from her. And Rachel; she treated him well and Percy was dead because of Killer, because of her. She couldn't imagine the hell Rachel was going through now.

"Hey," Reyna walked out of the bathroom, dressed simply in a black tank top- the pajamas type- and purple silk shorts with gold olive branches as decorations by the border. Her dark hair in wet silky waves that was tied into a loose ponytail, she jumped onwards onto Annabeth's bed and took a pad of papers that was in the pile and helped hers own self with the pile of papers. Annabeth was about to chide her about wet hair being tied up with a rubber band but she clamped her mouth shut, she had enough with telling people what to do. Reyna's dark eyes studied her friend as if she was an insect that interest her, then settled for asking, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Annabeth replied monotonously, like she had been rehearsing to say the word during her free time.

Reyna's eyes didn't leave her, it was an obvious sign Reyna didn't bought her reply and pursed her lips, "Okay," But Reyna didn't really believed that Annabeth was 'fine'.

The door creaked open, it wasn't Matthew or Bobby; it was a dark haired girl with naturally kaleidoscope eyes who had come in. Her brown-ish red hair braided into a messy, frizzy plait and she was dressed in a large Columbia sweater and knee-length ripped tights. "This is so frustrating," Piper said, flicking through pages of Mr. White's bill folders while chewing on an energy bar. "You can't figure out anything!" She exclaimed and dumped the last contents of the folder on to Annabeth's bed. Piper flopped onto the bed and exhaled in annoyance.

"We'll break through something," Reyna persisted as Piper sit back up again and picked up another form to look through. "I promise, because there must be some reason why all these documents were locked,"

"Well maybe because he didn't want anyone to find out that he spend fifteen thousand buckaroos for a professional Japanese sushi chef two years ago in March," Piper grumbled, taking another bite out of her energy bar and tossing that form into the 'waste pile'. Annabeth smiled slightly at that, leave it to Piper to come up with an inevitable complaint about the recent situation they're stuck with.

"I remember that, it was a yacht party he hosted for his new firm launching that spring," Reyna's brow furrowed and then a realization came to her as she examined the rest of the dates of the forms. And the idea hit Annabeth before Reyna could voice it aloud.

"These forms are dated all to the time when Jennifer was still around and we were in Philadelphia," Annabeth concluded knowledgably, her head was spinning with information. She start to build on different theories, why did Mr. While want to lock up bills and papers that was due two years ago? Why not throw it away? And did it seemed to be an odd coincidence that these papers were all due when Jennifer had been their friend? When Jennifer was still around not missing or- maybe a much more sensible suggestion- dead? Was it all just an odd coincidence?

"Great," Piper interrupted Annabeth's bullet train of theories. Piper's brow knitted together like she didn't understand. "How is that going to help us?"

"Think about it Piper," Reyna argued immediately, beating Annabeth to it. "Does it strike you as slightly a coincidence that these papers that belongs to my father was locked up in his cabinet and these papers were due two years ago around the time when Jennifer around- the last year when Jennifer is around?"

Piper's expression turn into a frown, getting it when Reyna mentioned it. "But that would mean that-"

"Reyna's dad might have something to do with Jennifer's disappearance, paid someone to do it even," Annabeth finished expertly for her; yes that sort of make sense but it still didn't answer the main question: why?

"Why though?" Piper insisted again, "It still doesn't make sense- Reyna dad barely knew Jennifer…"

"It's just a theory," Reyna snapped hastily then she settled her face as if she wanted to tell them something; something that was typically a secret. "Maybe she known…" Reyna mumbled under her breath.

"Know what?" Annabeth demanded immediately. "We need answers Reyna and now; I don't care if I'm scraping at the bottom of the barrel after what happened to…" She trailed off; she didn't want to finish that last sentence. It was too painful, god when has she ever become like this? It was too painful to say his name…she wasn't like that, not some hopeless fan girl who obsessed over love. That thought was pathetic. She needed to be strong, for Christ's sake.

"Exactly, Reyna," Piper said, backing up Annabeth. Her eyes for a moment flashed into lightning blue, a defiant color of eyes that always appeared in Thalia's eyes. "Share information that is at least important,"

"Well, I found out that I am adopted," Reyna said carefully, choosing her words cautiously so they would stop gaping at her like goldfishes. "And my real family is the Browns; Jennifer's family- my real name is Regina Brown."

"What?" Annabeth and Piper asked at the same time, their mouths hanging open and staring at her like she was from outer space.

"You're Jennifer's…"

"Younger sister," Reyna finished with a grimace.

"Why did you kept this from us?" Piper's doe-eyed expression was innocent but her eyes flashed a creepy shade of minty green grey.

"Well, it's not like I can waltz up to you guys sand say, 'Oh hey, by the way I'm related to Jennifer,' right?" Reyna drawled sarcastically and for once Annabeth have already recognize the familiar regal features Reyna 'Regina Brown' White and Jennifer share but just in different styles, Reyna was more warlike and Jennifer was your Queen-of-England, aristocratic pale-skin-dark-haired type. How odd, she never really noticed it before.

"Let's get back on topic, how is Reyna's dad," Reyna scowled and Annabeth pressed on, "I mean, Mr. Brown is related to Jennifer's disappearance?"

"Well, he hid all of the documents that belonged to that year in a locked bedside drawer…" Piper recapped for both of them.

"Oh and he- uh also had a Glock, mini handgun hidden too with all the documents…" Reyna added sheepishly, earning herself exasperated looks from Annabeth and Piper.

"Great," Piper sighed, "We learn that there's a possible chance Reyna 's dad-" Reyna made an indignant sound at the back of her throat. "-Mr. Brown might have something to do with Jen's disappearance and that he have a mini handgun, absolutely brilliant,"

Annabeth was about to combust by the amount of sarcasm dripped into the room, "Okay, enough dry humor," Annabeth stopped the sarcastic battle before it carried on too far. "Now, that document is around…"

"April," Reyna recalled perfectly.

"Search all the documents from April and onwards," Annabeth ordered and they spend the past hour flicking away all of the other pointless bills and demands of payment and gather up their pile of documents deemed possibly worthy to look through.

After a few more questionable, bored and frustrated random pieces of paper, Piper nearly seethed in annoyance. "This is barely anything," She spluttered angrily.

"We'll find it, Pipes," Reyna reassured the annoyed girl as she flicked through, Annabeth ignored the verbal exchange between those two and was focusing on a very particularly interesting letter.

Odd thing about the letter…all the names were blocked out. The letter was written in neat, scripted writing. "Found something?" Reyna asked hopefully, peering at Annabeth's shoulders and gesturing Piper to take a look, "That looks like Dad's handwriting…" but Reyna's face screwed up in concentration and read the letter with Piper and Annabeth.

Date: 2/6/10

Dear -

So is the deal settle? She'll be in Los Angeles with her family in two months; she has dark hair and grey green eyes, pale skin, pretty face and red lips.

I want it done by the end of the summer.

When it's done, I'll send the money- five hundred thousand in cash.

Remember to make it look like an accident.

Darius White

"Five hundred thousands; it's half a million," Annabeth whispered, horrified. "How much her life is worth- five hundred thousands- not even a full million!"

"What the hell is his problem?" Piper demanded angrily, then she turned to Reyna. "Did you know dad was a maniac?"

"He isn't my real dad; and don't you remember this day?" Reyna snapped, her face irritated but also ashen with shock. "She went to Los Angeles with her family and then she came back and see us; she was still alive so meaning whoever was supposed to kill her didn't,"

"I'm sorry," Piper retorted, "You might have forgotten but apparently we slipped and bang our head across rocks and supposedly go amnesia about the whole thing; but you can't deny there's something fishy going on!"

"BOTH OF YOU; SHUT UP!" Annabeth screamed at the top of her voice when Reyna was about to open her mouth and make another debatable point. Annabeth was about to scratch her eyes out; she knew Piper was still miffed about the whole Reyna kissing Jason bit last year and she knew Reyna haven't forgive Piper for abandoning them when the hunt for Killer was on it's breaking point but Jesus Christ this was impossible. "Look both of you have points, Piper- rack your brain and remember that on the last time we saw Jennifer, she was just back from L.A alive and healthy,"

Piper made a disgusted sound at the back of her throat but Annabeth carried on. "-and Reyna you can't deny your father-"

"Not my father!" Reyna spluttered.

"-was exactly innocent on this whole thing!"

"So what do we do then?" Piper asked in a surly tone and Reyna looked equally as unhappy and Annabeth nearly gave them amused, exasperated glances.

"Well," Annabeth said, pursing her lips into another one of her tight smiles. "We go to L.A,"

* * *

**So...I'm not dead. First i can tell you it's...COMPUTER PROBLEMS!**

**My laptop malfunction and it took two weeks to fix it so yeah and now I got it back and then a day later it broke again. I'm so asking for a refund; I have to do it on my mom's Mac and she's ALWAYS hogging it so the amount of time I get to update have been reduced to a minimal. And I had my novel and my other fic on my other account. God, I don't know how long it'll get to fix my laptop AGAIN or maybe I'll just get a new one. I don't know how long it'll take so I'm putting this story on HIATUS for a few weeks when I get THAT problem sorted. **

**I hate this. This not able to write as much thing. **

**I HATE IT SO MUCH! **

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. **

**A very pissed off Wink, **

**-Savvy.**


	17. Innocent Until Guilty

**Song Suggestion:**

**Where the Lonely ones Roam by Digital Daggers**

**Heartless by the Fray**

Chapter 17

Innocent Until Guilty

Piper stared at the front gates as her mother's limousine parked at the school front gates, her eyes ogled at the sight in front of her as she opened the door. The school front gates were _crawling _with guards, and so was the school's perimeter. Everywhere was filled with men in black suits, their Bluetooth were slightly visible and they wore dark sunglasses- and it definitely wasn't the fashion type.

"Wow," Piper nearly whistled out loud, but she couldn't whistle to save her life. Her tongue won't bend the way it would and whistle. However, the matter was that 'security' was definitely a step up because if it wasn't the achingly familiar building of the school; the amount of guards could've easily give the impression that it was the Headquarters of the CIA.

"Well at least it'll decreased the chances of the shooting ever happening again," Mrs. Aphrodite Lola (she kept her maiden name) said as she stepped out of the car with precarious grace- something she had a lot of practice with. Mrs. Aphrodite's dark hair was straightened this time and had blonde highlights in her hair for the season, she wore a mustard yellow trench coat along with a long sleeve classic black and yellow stripe, knee-length and body hugging dress with sheer black tights and brown leather clogs. In her arms was a baby who wasn't so small anymore, she had grown quite an adequate size in Piper's opinion and it was simply remarkable how she manage to look both like Piper and Jason at the same time.

She had tufts of wispy blonde hair on her pretty little head; she had Jason's fair Mediterranean skin and his small cupid bow lips but she had Piper's large, doe-shape eyes that was a warm contrast of hazel green, her cute upturn nose was nearly identical to Piper's and the high cheekbones and dimples was a clear resemblance. Jennifer (better known as Jenny) Alison Lola giggled slightly as Aphrodite readjusted the collar of her Prada white long sleeve lace dress; she tried to pull out Aphrodite's sharp triangle gold earrings that earned her a tickle from Aphrodite. "No, Jenny, you do _not _pull mommy's earring!"

"Can I hold her for a few moments before I go?" Piper asked her mother as her mother gave her the baby. Silena was leaning against the car, Piper really liked what Silena did with her hair and it made her face looked super edgy; it made Piper want to do the same thing. Silena pulled an Emma Watson, chopping her long locks for a rocky yet chic pixie cut. It showed off Silena's slim neck; her black head gleamed weakly in the November air.

Silena's fashion agenda has always changed, this season she wanted to go for that chic and punk look so she chopped off her hair and start borrowing some of Piper's torn jeans. Silena wore a cute PARIS hot pink long sleeve top, wash-out Levi's (and Piper had never thought the day will ever come when Silena wear jeans), cute brown leather boots and a large bohemian scarf.

Whereas Piper just wore whatever was warm; she wore a Varsity jacket, an old Abercrombie top, thick jeans and fake fur boots. A patched-up sling bag hung by Piper's side along with her classic black luggage and she wore a black cotton scarf along with a beanie.

Piper never really gets to experience a real cold winter before; most of her winters were spent in L.A…if you call a mild autumn day in Indiana 'winter'. But Jesus Christ, it was _freezing. _

She shivered when Jenny was given to her; cradling the baby a little. She gazed into Jenny's wide brown-ish green eyes; they were so pretty- she could tell Jenny would be beautiful when she grew up; just like her namesake.

"Bye, Jenny," She cooed and handed the baby back to her mother, she hugged Aphrodite- maybe she should get use to calling her 'mom'- and Silena. "See you soon mom, Silena," She embraced them warmly before turning back and waving once she reached the gates.

When she was at the Gates, before she could go straight into the school the guards stopped her. One of them spoke to her, "We need to check your bags," Piper briskly handed her black luggage and sling bag with a stab of annoyance; did they seriously expect seventeen year old girls to have weapons?

But then again, _Tammie _was a sixteen years old girl and she had been the reason why last year so horrible.

Innocence was corruptible nowadays.

However, they searched her bags and for some odd reason she felt her heart hit against her ribs nervously as they propped open her bags. She felt so awkward as they searched through the compartment where she store all her bras and panties, condoms and tampons and then they searched through her zipped up pocket where she kept all of her bathroom stuff but when they opened up, they didn't find her toiletries bag instead they found a large black hoodie and…a Glock gun with her face mask piled with it.

"What?" Piper spluttered as they held the gun and the black hoodie that was splattered with blood. Their eyes turn to her immediately and her mouth dropped, "But I-"

"Miss, you're under arrest," The guy said coldly, forcing her to turn around as she felt cold handcuffs chafing her skin.

* * *

_Yesterday morning, 8:03 AM. _

Killer felt enraged at this.

Did they honestly think they could be on the same game as she was on?

Oh please, they were imbeciles. Fools, idiots; they were all annoying, but the worst of all for her were weaklings.

Weaklings; people without a backbone, they irritated and drove her to an absolute end.

But she was trying to keep her cool at the moment Luke Castellan walked into the room with another boy. She didn't wear a black hoodie instead she was disguised in a blonde wig, wearing blue contacts and a dark leather jacket with red high heeled boots, a white vest t-shirt and a brown belt with a hidden gun holster on her belt. The rest of the team followed through as they gathered around her, their faces nervous when they saw her.

Fear was so easy to control, and people was so easily to manipulate these days. It was actually amusing to see their faces twitched in horror. Too bad Tammie died; she was easily to reel in for revenge but she was too eager and impatient.

She needed to die.

And to be honest, she didn't care.

Bianca and Thalia stealthily moved in that her eyes nearly missed them; at least they were getting better at it. More cautious, that was alright. "Where's Jason?" She asked quietly, her question directly sent to Thalia as they sat in a circle.

"Watching duty,"

"Hmm," Killer tilt her head up, her lips curled in a small smirk when she saw Kadden Brown. "Welcome, guest,"

"You look fit," As his eyes trailed down her slim body, she felt slightly annoyed by his wandering eyes but she kept her cool as she stared in those beautiful blue-gold eyes. "So is this some sort of gang?"

Bianca let out a contemptuous snort when Killer took out a gun out of her holster and spanned it in her fingers while Kadden's eyes widened in amazement while the others smirked at his star-spangled expression. "Sort of gang?" Killer questioned dangerously, her blue eyes flashing.

"Well, what is this all about?"

"What do you know about Piper Mclean, Annabeth Chase and Reyna White?"

"They were Jenny's friends," Kadden shrugged, "What do you want with them?"

"It's for the Piper girl," Killer said softly as she held out a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a black hoodie with blood on it and a Glock handgun. "You can sneak into Omni hotel and put this in her luggage,"

"It's not like I can just sneak in…"

"I got a spare room key," Killer said, the planning was done _ages _ago as Kadden's eyes turned into large round holes as she tossed it to him. The girl was _way _ahead than him, "And it's quite easy actually,"

"What's in it for me?" Kadden demanded. _Play it this way, eh? _Killer stood up from her chair and walked towards a desk where a large briefcase sat, she propped it open and revealed large wads of American cash in it. Kadden mouth literally dropped open as she took out five wads of hundred dollar cash; estimating about five thousand American dollars and walking bad to the chair, she dumped it onto Kadden's lap as her eyes bored into him. Everyone stayed silent as the crazy girl watch Kadden greedy fingers ran through the cash.

"This is," Killer said smoothly as she paced the area slowly and slyly like a snake. "And if you ignore me, the police will find you dead in your apartment before the next morning, clear?"

"Crystal," Kadden smirked.

* * *

"Mom, you have to help," Reyna begged when her mother had arrived at the police station; she felt a loyal nerve by sticking for Piper when her mother marched into the local New Haven Police department. It had been two days since Piper was locked up in the suspect crime room and six hours since her mother had landed from her flight. "Piper didn't do anything; she _couldn't _do anything and she's innocent! Piper would never hurt a fly-"

"Reyna, do me a favor and take me to your friend so I can help create a testimony against the court's accusations against her," Her mother snapped, as Reyna reeled in surprise but pleased that her mother- not really- was helping.

The police station was located at Union Avenue and it was crowded with angry parents. They were baffled that a sixteen years old girl was taken under custody for the Shooting whereas the work seems to be done by a trained professional; however there was no argument made about the evidence found in her bag pack.

Reyna quickly led her mother to the questioning room where Annabeth was waiting; the girl was tapping her foot impatiently as she was exchanging news with Piper. "Mrs. White," Annabeth greeted Reyna's adopted mother warmly as Mrs. White slipped onto a spare chair and studied the girl dressed in an orange jump suit.

Reyna tried not to wince at the sight of Piper, who looked like a downright mess. Her dark brown red hair hug limply around her pale, tired face, large bags was under her eyes and her face was also bruised horribly by all of the other prison occupants. She looked frailer than ever, her glassy eyes fixed on Reyna's mother as they all sat down in front of her. A glass window stood between them and Piper occupied a white dirty chair.

"How are you?" Reyna asked gently.

"Fine, real dapper really," Piper drawled sarcastically, "You know two bruises on my face from my prison roomies and got thrown into a cell block for doing something I didn't do, lovely question Reyna,"

That struck Reyna's nerves; she went up and down to get her mother- the best lawyer she knew- to help Piper. "Just checking if you're fine," Reyna asked coldly, "Ever try asking how it is to get my mother to get down here?"

Piper flinched before muttering a quick, "Sorry,"

"Stop bickering," Annabeth sighed in exasperation, "Mrs. White," Annabeth nodded for Reyna's adopted mother to start her interrogation.

"Okay Piper, so far the only evidence against you is that the prime evidence was found in your bag," Mrs. White said briskly as she took out some papers from her briefcase and spread them on the stainless steel table. "There was none of your prints on the gun and that gun was licensed; and you don't have a license, that's one point," Mrs. White explained carefully and clearly, "The next is that none of your hair or skin fibers were on the fabric of the black hoodie and it's technically impossible to not have any of that on the fabric if you did wear it; so meaning you have never worn that hoodie in your life and the blood on the fabric was Percy Jackson-" Annabeth flinched at the said name, but Mrs. White carried on, "So if there is no link to you that you wear the hoodie that has the victim's blood on it and no link of you with that gun; it's strong enough to let you out of jail, expect it to be done in a day,"

"That's awesome!" Piper said cheerfully, her daunt face brightening.

"Yeah and I'll help you catch up on homework," Annabeth added unnecessarily, Reyna smiled inwardly- Annabeth was going back to herself slowly by slowly everyday and trust Annabeth to be the one who remind Piper about catching up on homework.

"But there'll be a problem," Mrs. White said immediately once Annabeth and Piper had quietened down. "Your criminal record isn't exactly squeaky clean, so it'll be slightly harder for me to wrestle with the prosecutor,"

"What criminal record?" Reyna asked sharply, Annabeth and Reyna gave Piper an odd look as a red hot blush formed at Piper's cheeks.

"It's nothing..."

"You call finding a stash of marijuana in your room nothing?" Mrs. White asked pointedly, the same tone whenever Reyna had a good point in a debate. "And driving a silver Lexus convertible without a license; then crashing it into a telephone pole and also breaking into a jewellery store nothing?"

Piper blushed even harder, while Reyna mind whirled. You know how sometimes in books when they say 'so-and-so reeled at the news'.

Well, Reyna was reeling at the news and before she can say anything about it Annabeth beat her to it. "You broke into a jewellery store?" She asked sceptically.

"It happened once...I swear," Piper said sheepishly but her attention was forced on Mrs. White, "But I can get out right?"

"Of course," Mrs. White snorted, "I never lost a case in my life," She stood up and straightened her close, "This meeting is done," Mrs. White wrinkled her nose at the dirty jumpsuit and walked out of the room curtly as Reyna curled her mouth in grudging admiration.

"Your mom is a freaking goddess," Piper moaned. "I can't wait to get out of there,"

Reyna grin cheekily, "That's Cassida White for you, know her way around the law and draw a fine line between justice and crime,"

* * *

_Thirteen and a half years ago_

She was only four years old when she made her first kill.

It wasn't necessarily a human, but it was pretty mind-boggling for a small girl but however, she hardly knew what was going on that time.

The small girl stood in the backyard, her eyes peeled at everything around her as her eyes tried to follow a blue butterfly which had fluttered off to the distance. Her parents watched lovingly as the four year old girl bounce around the backyard in glee, her captivated nature leading her off.

Her father's eyes was filled with happiness as the little girl swirled around in the field of grass; he knew that she was never actually his- that she belonged to another woman- but however he and his wife enjoyed the moment of pretending that the little girl was theirs.

He kissed his wife on the cheeks and patted his daughter's head as he took his briefcase and went off to work. The mother went upstairs to get dressed for the day while her daughter frolicked around the field. She saw a small little dragonfly floating off into the shrubbery as she giggled and chased after it, diving into the bush as she ripped apart the branches and leaves so she could find the dragonfly when she saw a cute little squirrel at the corner.

Her arms was filled with scratches and cuts etched in her skin, small trickles of blood slowly came out of those cuts and small stabs of pain occurring as the thorns tore at her flesh when she was trying to find the dragonfly in the torn shrub. She didn't mind pain, oddly she welcomed it but however her attention was on the squirrel.

"You're so cute!" She squealed delightfully when she saw the small squirrel; she was tempted to pet it but she knew if she tried to reached the squirrel would scurry away. So she quickly made her way out of the shrub, blood trailing away from her feet as she climbed up the steps of her house veranda to fetch some nuts for the squirrel.

She hoped her mother won't come down at this moment because she knew that her mother would threw a fit if she ever saw those cuts and forbid her from even stepping out of the house ever again. Thankfully, no one was going down the stairs. She cleverly reached for a high stool, her small frail body climbing up the stool as she stood on it and reached for some raw nuts hidden in one of the high cupboards. She grabbed a whole packet of it and quickly climbed down as fast as she climbed up; her cunning mind was smart enough to make her wipe away the smears of blood from her cuts.

She ran hastily to the shrubbery, pushing away plants and thorns so she could see the squirrel again. The small little creature was picking at one of the small berries on the shrub, "Hi little fella," She cooed as she held out the nuts in her hand, the small squirrel sniffed and approached the girl slowly. She didn't dare move as the squirrel sniffed at the nut and her hand before nibbling on one of the nuts; she inhaled a sharp breath as the creature's compassionate brown eyes looked up at her as he bit slowly on those nuts.

Such small, twitchy creatures; aren't they? Small and little, smaller than her; _weaker _than her, she felt dominant over the squirrel for some reason as it trusted her not to hurt it. Some weird instinct took over her, the controlling inner demon in her struck up as she lashed at the squirrel's neck and squeeze it. Tightened her hold of it as the squirrel struggled out of her grip, it's large buck teeth sank into her flesh and she ignored the pain and blood that was oozing out from the bite marks, a small smile appeared on her face.

She always did wonder what can happen if you curled your arms around a person's neck and now she have a firsthand experience of what it was like.

The squirrels squirmed, kicked and lashed at her as she let out a little giggle. It was so _funny _to see it wiggle like that; almost like some sort of deluded joke that she found hysterical. The last breath was out of the squirrel when she used her fingernails to dig into the fur of the squirrel and it stopped moving, the body limp in her meaty fists.

She stared at the dead body in front of her; she knew it was bad. She did something very bad to something. And it was cute, the girl stared lifelessly at the dead creature as she stroke the matted fear. No blood, it almost seems cruel. The girl's deceitful eyes shone as she thought about it, she did a bad thing but why didn't she felt bad? She knew it was wrong…but it felt right. She felt inhuman.

No remorse whatsoever for the little squirrel; it was almost a naturalistic feeling to her and she had never felt more alive when she was strangling the squirrel.

It was her favorite way of watching a person squirm under her stare.

* * *

Annabeth stared emptily at the bedpost as Thalia came into the Delta dorm; the dark-haired girl threw her leather fringe back onto her bed and climbed up on it as she took out her leather black jacket on the bed. "God," Thalia groaned as she lay on the bed, her face exhausted.

Annabeth felt odd around Thalia; half the time she didn't know what to say around her after she found out whose side Thalia really stood on. The brunette sat up and faced Annabeth with an eerie smile. She got off her bed and get down on her knees, her arms reached for something underneath her bed and bringing it out, "I'm killing for a smoke," Thalia groaned as she lit up the cigarette and put it to her lips. "Want some? You looked like you could,"

Annabeth snapped out of her moody gazing and looked up, eyeing the smoke. It occurred to her that Piper use to smoke marijuana when she was like fourteen or so, and when she read her record…well; there was also a few more unpleasant things. "No, it's okay," Annabeth said, shaking her head and climbing out of her bed. Dressed only in Paul Frank monkey blue and gray boxers and a loose large owl sweater, she pinned up her golden blonde hair with a large flowery pin that Percy had bought for her in a flea market somewhere in New York during that lovely summer two years ago when their love was fun and fresh. God, she was being a sopping misery.

"Are you okay?" Thalia's tone of disdain didn't convey with her words as smoke curled around her. "You don't looked so good,"

"I just need to finish an essay quickly…"

"Whatever," Thalia shrugged and stashed the rest of her cigarettes under her bed and lie on her bed, fingers between the smoke and her blue eyes staring mindlessly at the ceiling.

Annabeth sat on her study chair and fished out some math worksheets; she kept gazing off to the distance and her mind was distorted with the algebra on the page. She used to get algebra…now it was confusing.

The door then flew open and Reyna came bursting in, "Guess whose back!" Reyna said excitedly as she marched in, not realizing Thalia was also in the room. And Reyna sniffed the air and looked at Annabeth in confusion, "Were you smoking pot?"

"No, I was," Thalia's sarcastic voice chimed in as she marched off, "Bye," She wagged her finger at Annabeth and disappeared.

"Anyway, Piper's back!" Reyna yelled at the door and the small brunette came waddling into the room, her red-ish dark hair flying and she looked better than the state Annabeth saw her in when she was stuck in a cell. "Mom got her out,"

"Her mother is a lifesaver," Piper said in appreciation as she hugged Annabeth and inhaled the air and looked at Annabeth in suspicion, "Is that pot?"

"Thalia was smoking," Annabeth add in half-heartedly.

"That makes more sense," Piper nodded as she sat on the edge of Annabeth's bed and Reyna clasped her hands together. "So what did I miss?"

"Not much," Reyna sighed in a content tone. "Anyway, Annabeth and I went through some more documents but nothing is on the subject,"

"Hey, do you think it would hurt to go visit Philly again?" Piper asked softly, "Back to where we all first met in Rosemont, where Jennifer's all house was- I think that if we want to really start to dig we should start there…"

Annabeth took it into consideration; it was actually not too much of a bad plan but then there were problems. "But how are we going to get there?" Annabeth argued with Piper. "It's a four hour and thirty two minutes' drive,"

Piper grinned at Annabeth, "I missed how technical you were, Jason got a van and we can bring Leo along on the trip for technical work and we could have like a road trip!"

Reyna's face remained calm before nodding, "I agree we'll start at Philly then we can try to see if we can do the L.A search…"

"Actually we can," Piper said slyly, "I can put in a note that we need to film some stuff for the class in L.A and during our free time we can try and see what 'AP' means and you're both on the cast and crew,"

"So we have a plan," Annabeth formulated together, "This weekend we'll check out Rosemont, and I guess after the weekend we'll go for L.A?" It didn't sound too shabby to Annabeth and a plan is much better than no plan at all but due to Killer and her unpredictable motions and problems that crop up they often end up 'winging it' as you go along.

Suddenly their phones beeped at the same time and they didn't jumped three miles like they usually did instead they just casually whipped out their phone and checked their messages, Piper hit her phone against the bedpost, "Damn the police, they messed my phone up…" Piper grumbled angrily.

Annabeth clicked on the new messages and read:

**Took you long enough, hmm, you girls must be getting soft. Did I scare you there, Pipes? How was jail?**

"That was _her?" _Piper nearly snarled at the phone and Reyna gripped Piper's wrist to stop her from smashing the phone across the room.

"Whatever," Annabeth murmured and read on:

**Hope you had fun, cheers for all your prison buddies! Yeah, I sent you to jail to scare you. Just a little bit of whom you are messing with; remember Tammie was an amateur, I'm the real game. **

**-Killer**

* * *

**I'm so sorry for the long update is jut that my computer has been malfunctioning and I gotten a new one which Internet kept flicking on and off and I nearly murder it due to my frustration of trying to upload my fics. **

**God, I hate my life. **

**I need to do homework, and extra math homework and do my writing and my novel and- GOD, I really wish I could murder my laptop for malfunctioning all the damn time. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?**

**Urgh...anyway, I hope I portray psychopathy well enough. Is it me or when Reyna comforted Piper it was sort of weird because I think I just started a new shipping...Reyna x Piper. Reyper or Piyna. Crap, I smell a fanfiction. NO, DO NOT DO THAT!**

**However, I got super annoyed at everything and my getting-tick-off box have it's limits. And by the way I did not strip 'Rosemont' from Rosewood in PLL, Rosemont is an actual place in Philadelphia and if you researched it you'll see that technically Sara Shepard based Rosewood on Rosemont so I'm not stripping off, it just fits so well I HAD to use it. **

**Do not own anything. **

**A very annoyed Wink,**

**Savvy. **


	18. AN: MAJOR NEWS

**So how pissed are you all? I'm not going to blame it on homework, though it is partly the reason why I'm so late. Anyway, I've been working on my novel. Yeah, the big book and no I'm not even close to publishing yet. :( I've been researching like mad. It's not easy when you choose to literally write about all mythology, looking up ancient artefacts and trying to understand what the hell Wikipedia is talking about. Gah, however, I managed to seep in more information than the rest of my classroom. **

**I got my characters though I need more information; here's a bit on my first chapter. **

To say Seth Tristan was annoyed was an understatement.

He was borderline furious with his sister Zahra because he just recently found out she had 'accidentally' deleted all of his songs on his iPod and he was ignoring everything she was trying to get him to talk to her.

Seth snort contemptuously before looking away and forcing himself to look at anywhere but her. If he merely glanced at her, he can feel an emotion of sheer hatred rising up his throat and threatening to spill out but he managed to keep it under control. The driver wouldn't be ecstatic if he starts yelling at her for no reason at all.

**Urgh, I feel so...ugh about this bit. My friends say there was nothing wrong with it, even my Hermione-esque friend with a critical mind didn't find anything wrong with the first chapter. There is still my English teacher and my other friend to go through. Editing for me is horrendous, right next is research. I don't mind research but when the internet don't give you anything useful... -_-**

**If you find the beginning of a chapter like this in a book somewhere in a book store, well you know I finally made it. **

**But you probably don't care about that. **

**POINT: I'M NOT DEAD NOR STOPPING THIS. **

**I'm just really slow on writing chapters up, inspiration blooms up every once in a blue moon but the determination is going strong! This year: BIG YEAR. The start of writing my novel, eighth grade will be the death of me if the homework amount keep going strong and two fan fictions to tie up. **

**Sounds great. Not trying to sound like an overachiever or anything but I think I'm doing pretty well for a thirteen year old (fourteen on October). Don't look shock, it's okay- a lot of people say I'm like that. Overachiever for my age. **

**-Savvy**

**P.S Please review, I lost half of my readers from the last fic and ooh- the 1st year anniversary of the Songbird Academy series is coming soon! **


	19. Demons in You

**Songs X):**

**Cold hearted by Paula Abdul or Glee (whichever fits)**

**What hurt the most by Rascal Flatts **

**Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys (fit Reyna so frigging much...and Katniss)**

Chapter 18

Demons in You

It had been long since she had a real friend. She knew something was wrong with her ever since she was four; she tried to dilute the feelings of creating pain to others and her own self but failed. She tried to connect with the kids her age but she came out rather cold and elusive, she preferred her own company.

Her parents' work was beginning to set in when she was six, they would be on six to nine months business trips to deal with their companies and so they left her with numerous nannies. Her nannies didn't try much with her either, they just cooked, clean and attended Career Days for her but they never communicate with her. She grew colder and the bullying of her classmates increased thanks to the cruel trick played on her by that new Brown girl.

It moved up a scale when her classmates ganged up on her and teased her about _that_ boy during her walk back home from school.

He smiled smugly at her while that Brown girl draped herself all over him with her stupid clique with her and half of the school behind her on the pathway. _Here we go again. _

"Hey, frigid," Brown leered at her with her appalling large smirk. She clenched her fists, for a moment her memories flashed into her eyes and she remembered seeing the light leave the squirrel's eyes. Now wouldn't that be lovely to just personally squeeze the life out of Brown's throat? She fumed and narrowed her eyes when they swaggered towards her. Or burning her porcelain, doll face until the flesh peeled off? "What do you think of my boy?"

Chase's grey eyes flashed but she didn't say anything. _Just let her roll me over, huh? _"That you have an acquired taste for scumbags," She responded as Reyna White smirked a little. Huh, guess Brown's friends are not all loyal and some have friends. "It shows what an excellent person you are,"

"Jen, can we just go?" Mclean begged. Her butterfly eyes pleaded as Brown ignored her and Brown's face turn into an ugly sneer, an expression that actually made her look likes some wretched hag she actually was. _Burn in hell, _she thought when Brown let out an offended scoff.

"Just give it up, frigid," Brown's new toy shook his head. "We were never together. I mean, _come on_? Who would date you? Let's face it, nobody likes you." The rest of the crew laughed cruelly as La Rue cracked her knuckles. That stung. It hurt the most. It hurt more than the time when Brown's new toy had charmed her when it was actually a class prank on her believing a boy would ever ask Ugly Face 'Frigid' willingly out on a date, it hurt more when her parents abandoned with Nanny Airhead Britney on her _birthday, _it hurt even more when she chipped her entire tooth out during a bumper car accident and it hurt the most when everyone was mocking her. The ones who weren't really laughing were Brown's clique.

But that was what makes it worse. They knew this was wrong and yet they didn't do anything about it. Just like stoic little statues, puppets. Weaklings. One thing she hated more than Brown's triumphant face was weaklings. "Nice," Brown smiled at her sweetly, but there was nothing sugary about it. "So do us all a favor, and never show your face again," Brown's face was just inches away from her, her eyes brimmed with tears and her cheeks were salty. "Better yet don't breathe the same air," Brown smirked. Again.

As if it was some sort of monster has overtook her like it once did years ago; she let out a crazy scream and attacked Brown, tackling Brown's agile body onto the grey pavement as she tightened her grip on Brown's throat. "Oh my god!" Miranda Gardener squealed, "You crazy bitch!" But it blurred away as she squeeze, her long nails digging into the pressure point of Brown's throat.

"Argh!" She smashed the palm of her wrist into Brown's eyes. Classmates surged to help Brown up from getting completely killed by her but she snarled like some sort of vicious beast, bloodlust heavy in the air as Brown squirmed and kick.

"Let me go!" Brown shrieked shrilly as La Rue and her crew came in to pulled her away from ripping Brown's vocal cords out but she started kicking, punching, tearing, spitting, letting out an insane laugh as she unleashed the rage, angst, and depression she had bottled in for so long.

She wasn't invincible when she was up against five girls with a black belt in karate so she was hoisted up and thrown onto the floor by them. "My leg is broken," Brown moaned in agony as she lay on the floor, her clothes dripped with sweat and her breathing ragged. Her lust for blood to be pour has dulled when she had finally calmed down.

"Dislocated jaw and a broken leg," Lou Ellen declared. And she had to smile a bit; at least Brown didn't have out of it looking like a model from Vanity Fair.

Brown was helped up onto her feet and was leaning on Mclean for support when Brown was looking down for her. "You are just so jealous you want to kill me," Brown's nose was gushing with blood, both her eyes were bruised and had nail marks dug deep into the skin around it, her neck was forming purple and blue colors with blood leaking out from a certain cut. Her dark hair was a rat nest and her grey green eyes were smoldering.

"Not everything is about you, Jennifer!" She attempted to stand up but Clarisse's karate crew held her don firmed by the arms. Her legs kicked upwards with surprising strength and collided with Brown's broken leg. _Snap! _The crunch of the knee cap popping was heard loud and solid for everyone.

She let out another painful gasp and toppled onto Mclean. This time Chase and White joined in to help Brown. "You are insane!" Brown shouted in pain, "I swear to god, _I want her looking like me OR I'LL TELL! I'll TELL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR PRECIOUS DAMN SECRETS FOR THE WORLD TO HEAR!" _For a fleeting second, Brown was almost as deranged as she was. The boy had run away, afraid of being pummelled by both girls. _Coward, _she thought as Sherman- a big kid who had a large crush on Chase- let out a bone-breaking jabbed at her ribs.

Brown still had the pride to gloat when she let out a painful groan, "Let's go," She said snobbishly to her friends and they hobbled out back to her house as she braced for the extreme pain to come as La Rue punched her arm, she squirmed and kicked but cry no more.

She was stronger than all of them. She would not cry. She would not squeal and run like that boy did. She was more powerful. She had the ultimate game. She would win. She may be broken, bruised and even dead by tomorrow. But she would not say anything. After several blows of silence, they all stare at her as if they were flabbergasted by her quietness. She welcomed pain. She loved it. To cause it to others and her, a sick and wicked smile as La Rue pulled at her hair only to be welcome by a wink.

_I'll be back for everyone and this time they'll burn in hell like they should._

* * *

"So this is Jennifer's house?" Leo Valdez asked for what felt the billionth time for Reyna, who was easily annoyed.

You see, Reyna hates people constantly tapping their fingers or that horrible scratching sound when two substances were rubbed together but people who asked the same thing over and over again and you had to keep clarifying?

It was annoying and quite literally mind-breaking; it irked Reyna to no end. "Yes, Valdez it is," Reyna snapped, her brown eyes flashing with annoyed menace while Jason smirked at the corner of her eyes because it was so typical of Reyna to snap like that and she turned to him, "And wipe that stupid smirk off your face Grace," Piper sniggered as Jason's smirk turn into a quick grimace.

Annabeth let out an irritated sigh, Reyna share her pain of dealing with moronic imbeciles but however Reyna didn't want to focus on boys or Leo's IQ points; she wanted Killer done and over with so she didn't have to live in fear for the rest of her life.

Reyna glanced cautiously around her idyllic surroundings and felt a little eerie being back to the town when Jennifer was around. Rosemont hasn't changed at all; they passed the town center minutes ago and Reyna swore it was nearly like Ghost Whisperer, she got flashes of her younger self walking along the neat pavements, heading in and out of the cute little vintage shops if she saw anything interesting by the window- usually a textbook on politics, a t-shirt with an empowering quote embroidered on it or a sweet and cold ice cream on a hot summer day.

Rosemont was your typical American-Victorian town, quiet and conservative where people know people. By the time you're twelve you have everyone names in the school memorized, and you shook hands with every snobby neighbor you're forced to fake a smile at, you exchange polite words of dialogue with the local mayor and recognize almost every single street around the town.

Leo managed to break through the rusty padlocks with a black gun-shaped lock gun and pushed open the black iron wrought gates of the old Browns' Rosemont Manor. Overgrown ivy curled at the hedges as she saw large white roses flocked against the green bushes, a stone path led to the front of the Brown's Manor and large oak trees was situated every ten yards or so. Reyna forgotten how beautiful the manor was or how fantastical Rosemont used to be; everything seemed to come out of a South Carolina film.

The manor was almost as impressive as Rosemont. A wooden porch painted dark brown have finally been eaten away by termites, the paint of the pure white oak doors was peeling away and the usually-polished silver handles was rusty. Despite, the uncleanliness of the place the impressiveness remained; large arched towers at the right and left with two chimneys, worn and red bricks stacked neatly and windows gleam sinisterly giving Reyna slight chills.

"Place could use a little fixing up," Leo said in a chirpy voice while all of them exchanged bemused expressions and Reyna was having a mental debate in her mind, trying to decide whether she should regret bringing Leo into the whole mission. He was great; incredible in fact- his code-breaking, computer, technical skills can get them half-way through the progress they're making if they were without him but his seriousness and common sense was highly lacking. However, it did keep their spirits up.

The double doors, much to their surprise, weren't locked. It creaked when Piper pushed it open, and dust came off from the top of the door frame. They all stepped into the abandoned manor.

Reyna could literally see the ghost of Jennifer flashing here and there, the eerie cold feeling expanded when they walked through the grand foyer and to an opening of mahogany, cobwebs-infested stairs. She could literally see twelve year old Jennifer, smirking and laughing her cold, but mockingly beautiful laugher as she looked at Reyna with her wide and hypnotizing green-grey eyes. "Somebody kill me," Jennifer whispered to Reyna and Reyna's eyes widened, standing there still and shell-locked as she continuously stared at free air, or in Reyna's mind: a ghost of Jennifer.

"Reyna, are you okay?" Jason's voice had a touch of concern as Reyna returned back to Earth with an uneasy smile.

"Yeah," Reyna rubbed her arm, they ascended up the grand staircase and no one was stupid enough to trail their hands up the dusty railings. "We'll start at Jennifer's room,"

No one bothered to argue as Annabeth began to lead them through the lonely and familiar corridor. As they quietly descended down the hallways, Reyna could feel abandoned smiling portraits of Jennifer and her family leering at her. Reyna shuddered before nearly mockingly laughing at herself; seriously, there were no such things as ghosts. Why should she be afraid?

"You should be afraid of everything…" Jennifer's cold and icy voice slid into her ears as they passed a single portrait Reyna has always liked to see near a mahogany table that used to be there. The portrait was framed and the picture was blown up to near the height of Reyna's slender, tall frame. Dustiness and plastic has cloaked the portrait, but it remained beautiful and frighteningly lifelike as it was before. Dark, long elaborate hair, rich red lips, hypnotizing orbs for eyes and pale flawless skin gleamed in the darkness as Leo's torch light was the only emblem of warmth in the entire house. "Secrets, lies, fears," Jennifer warned her as they went even further.

"Go away," Reyna muttered under her breath and Piper caught her words and gave her an odd glance.

Jennifer smirked wickedly as sinister-looking Rhoads (an old family that evolved into the Browns) give Reyna a hearty wink.

When they finally reached to the heavily decorated door of Jennifer's room, there was only one problem.

The door was locked. _Of course it was, _Reyna thought sulkily as Leo brought out the lock gun again but the logical part of her brain was suddenly suspicious. One of the perks of being hunted by a megalomaniac was you get easily suspicious and paranoid; however, she frowned slightly as her and Annabeth began to put pieces together. The iron gates were locked, and that make sense because being an abandoned house, you have to keep it away from kids too curious for their own good but the front double doors leading inside the house weren't and then Jennifer's bedroom door was declared as locked.

Theories and connecting dots was already forming in her mind before she could do anything about it; and the ideas she thought of wasn't anything she liked.

Leo popped the door open in a quick moment and they all walked in with amazingly loud footsteps that nearly send her paranoid radar button to its heights.

Jennifer's room was the same just as Reyna remembered it. Everything white with a touch of silver and gold, white four poster bed with see through drawn shades, a white wooden chest situated at the front of the bed with pictures of friends (an image of little Tammie gave her shivers) and small little posters of celebrities she admire (Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Judy Foster and Julie Andrews), the white fur rug that used to cover her bare wooden floor had disappeared, a glass desk which was once crowded with her designer gold Louis Vuitton bound diaries, gold shiny pens, stacked essays and Jane Austen novels and of course, her Mac.

The room also used to be occupied with small white rattan chairs and a glass coffee table. But now everything was stripped empty except for the bed and the chest.

"So, what can we look for here?" Jason asked as Annabeth's calculating grey eyes fixed on the white chest. She went straight for it with Reyna and Piper behind her, her trembling fingers stroked the chest and wrenched it open only to find it completely seal.

There was no key lock for the chest so it was completely sealed. "Someone wants to keep a secret," Piper muttered under her breath as Leo took out his bag pack and started searching for tools.

"Okay, found the one to do the job," Leo took out a three pound hammer out of his bag so casually that all four of them stared at him as if he just grown two heads. "What? Is it a crime to pull out a three pound hammer from a bag?"

"Nothing," replied Reyna in a perfunctory hasty tone, "Just smashed the chest open,"

Leo winked at her and Reyna ignored her cheeks heating up when he did so before slapping herself mentally to stay focus. Everyone backed up quickly when he lifted the hammer and in one smashing moment, he brought it down and the chest shattered into gazillion pieces.

Leo's hands were still gripping the handle of the hammer, but he was coated in dust and pieces of white wood. "All in a day's work," Jason grinned at Leo. It took for a while to move away all of the white broken pieces of wood and splinters, and when they did they found a gold briefcase.

"You mad, woman?" Leo breathed out in total frustration when they saw a combination lock clinched the covers of the briefcase.

Reyna swore loudly, banging her fists onto the briefcase. Of course, there was a combination lock. Someone just loves to make her life harder. "You can break the lock, Leo?" Annabeth asked softly at the Latino only to earn a sophisticated scoff from the said boy.

"Of course I can," Leo responded, "It'll take a few days but yeah,"

"Then let's go," Piper piped, feeling the eeriness of the old house starting to get to her as she plunged head first for Jennifer's bedroom door. Jason grabbed the briefcase in one easy swing, Leo dumped his three pound hammer into his bag with uneasy eyes casted on him by the rest of the crew, Annabeth blew a tousle of blonde hair away from her face and Reyna straightened her sports jacket.

Piper turned the handle and wrenched it open but it didn't happen like that. "I don't remember closing it," Reyna allowed the smallest note of panic to slip in her voice, which is to say is a lot.

Piper tried again but no avail. "Should I smash the door open?" Leo offered but Reyna shook her head.

"Her door is actually hardened silver, it'll be like throwing cheese at a refrigerator," Annabeth noted intelligently but worry flashed through her eyes as Piper kick the door, earning her a heartfelt bruise on her toes and a stream of curse words. Jesus Christ, the native knew how to swear.

"What's happening?" Jason's voice was high and tinny.

"Windows," Reyna announced, "Try the windows," Annabeth and Jason ran to Jennifer's dusty see through shades and bricked up windows nailed shut with no openings. Now everyone was playing the swearing game.

"What the hell?" Leo choked out as the scent of gasoline wafted through her nose…and also smokes.

Piper's eyes widened into large balls with irises of flashing color, "The house is burning!" Almost as if Killer was waiting for irony, their phones hummed in unison with different ring tones.

Reyna was an expert on fishing her phone out in a quick moment to find an unknown text message waiting for her send to her by the devil known as Killer. Her fear and stomach was in her throat when the scent of something burning got stronger mixed with the odor of kerosene and gasoline. She read the text.

**I told you I'm the real deal. **

**-Killer. **

The house was on fire.

And they were in it.

* * *

"You're crazy."

"Tell me something I don't know," Killer snarled, "Now shut up," The dark hair wig was scratchy and itchy and the skin bleaching cream was working its magic- making her naturally pale without having her looking pasty. Her grey color contacts made her eyes watery and Lieutenant Grace was almost as livable as she was to her name. Sarcasm intended.

"I was paid to be a spy not a pyromaniac," Thalia argued, putting up a good fight with her boss. "This is not what I sign up for,"

"Oh Thals," Killer hissed softly as she dragged the kerosene lamps into the house through one of the sealed windows Thalia has wrenched open with a crowbar. "It's not really arson," A wicked smile curled at her lips, "If you don't get caught."

Thalia rolled her eyes. The two girls, with Killer's fake black hair and pale eyes, looked almost as if they were sisters. "Yeah, so we're just burning her house, right?"

_That's what you think, _Killer thought smugly before re-lecturing herself on arrogance. Arrogance was blinding. For all she knew, the blasted girls and their accomplices could very well escape. _Arrogance leads to disaster; sometimes it's better not to be your own master._

Thalia thought she was just burning the house while Killer had known the girls were taking a road trip back to Rosemont, her favorite town, and back to this house. Thalia's hatred of Jennifer was so easily to control into just burning the house to tarnish the memories of Jennifer while Killer used it as an ulterior motive to finish those little bitches once and for all. Of course, she knew thousands of things could go wrong. So she had Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and Plan E set up already. Things were so much easier when you were the Master, and of course a brain.

Thalia had wiggled through the hole they created through the window and followed in Killer. Their equipment heavy on their bag packs as they pulled through.

Thalia zipped open her black school bag and revealed three medium size tanks of petrol they bought recently from the petrol station on the way. Killer opened her camping sack and got kerosene lighters she had already purchased at the hardware store five miles away from here.

They worked quickly and silently, pausing every five seconds to check their surroundings. Thalia poured the tanks all over the kitchen floor and dusty sink, dousing the kitchen with its metallic scent. Once the three tanks were empty, Thalia and Killer squirmed their way out of the windows. "Now stand back,"

Killer lifted the kerosene lighters high and mighty into the air and flung it through the window hole. Thalia and Killer ran as if hell depended on them, watching the explosion broke out and lit up the entire ground floor on fire as it struck Killer speechless.

"That was epic," Thalia whistled as they sneaked out to the front lawn and pulled their black hoodies up. Killer's eyes scanned the neighborhood streets and she decided the coast was clear.

They climbed through the fences of the neighbors hastily, and ran through their lawn. Killer wanted to get out of the street without being seen and quick, after five houses they went onto the street to where they found their parked van.

The van was inconspicuous. Black, tinted shady windows and no car plate, Thalia got in to shotgun and Killer climbed it onto the driver seat. They dumped the bags at the back. To be extra careful, Killer wrapped the empty tanks with black carpeting so it'll match the floor. She'll get one of her 'friends' to melt those tanks so no links could be traced back to them and any piece of evidence in that house would've been burn to crisp and unrecognizable.

"Job done," Killer said smoothly in a platonic, stoic tone. Thalia's face was impassive and Killer dug out an envelope from the pockets of her black jeans to hand it to Thalia. "Open it when we get back," She gunned the car into engine and began driving.

A small smile curled at Thalia's lips while her face still remained the same. "Well, we did it," But there was something wrong in her tone, Killer shifted her glance to Thalia; Thalia's blue eyes were anxious and nervous. Her body wasn't relaxed. Killer smiled at that, _it seems as if Miss Grace trust me as much as I trust her. _

Smart girl.

* * *

**Happy Late Easter! :) **

**Everybody: OMG! SHE'S BACK! OMG, WHY? A CLIFFIE? REALLY? REALLY? **

**Me: It's Savvy, ME. What do you expect? Bunnies and unicorns. Really? Me? Tut, tut, you should KNOW by now. It's okay, re-read it, process it and then send me a very angry warning of making sure none of them die or not I won't live to see the next morning. **

**Recap on this chap: **

**-Killer hints are getting bigger than. Tell me who are your suspects. I mean, I just give you a MAJOR hint. Like big, large. If you didn't see it than -_-, however it gives you sort of an idea how psychopathy and sociopathic works. Yes, unfortunately Killer have both psychological problems. Another raring hint. Psychological problems. Bullied by Jennifer. Damn, I need to be more subtle. However, Killer was a psychopathic by genetics but she tried covering it up. However, due to the constant obliviousness and ignoring by her parents and harsh (abusive) bullying by her classmates; she seems to be getting a bad end of the stick. You almost feel sorry for her but then she set the house on fire. **

**- Grudging friendship BETWEEN Master Killer and our Lieutenant Grace. I did not plan this, it just sprung up. But you can tell you're starting to really doubt Thalia's loyalties to killer, don't you? Who is she REALLY working for? Is she on our side or Killer's side? Or just a poor girl who was manipulated by Killer. **

**-Annabeth's depressive, blatant behaviour. Poor Annie, is she strong enough to hold up? **

**-Piper and Reyna's sarcastic friendship. Damn, I really like this one. **

**-Leo's awesomeness. 'Nuff said. **

**-Jason (I hope) had more personality here than at the book. **

**Recap on story: **

**-Percy's dead and so is Drew, apparently. Shame, she survived last year. This year? Savvy while writing: NOPE. **

**-Retracing Jennifer's step.**

**-Killer's depth in character. I hate 2D villains, so that's why I'm giving Killer a good backstory so you can see why she's...Killer. **

**-The Shooting at the school. **

**Coming next:**

**Getting out of the house, duh. **

**Cracking that brief-case open. **

**The girls haven't gotten any smarter (no offense to Annie and Rey-Rey) so they haven't got even more subtle with their secrets. **

**Secrets are revealed and some cool stuff. **

**Killer's blackmailing. Never gets old. **

**You know love me and so review (please), **

**-Savvy. **

**Next update might be slow. **


	20. What Goes Around

Chapter 19

What Goes Around

"The house is on fire," Piper breathed lividly, only to have smoke and carbon dioxide curled up into her nostrils and coughed uncontrollably. "That crazy bitch set the house on fire!" Her voice raised an octave higher.

"It's okay," Annabeth murmured as she brushed her fingers across Jennifer's old bedroom entrance door and twist the handles to open it with no avail. "Don't panic," When she turned back to them and saw Jason's panic expression. "Just think,"

Reyna tried the door again and then swore loudly. "She jammed it," Piper was trying not to freak out but everything was just too overwhelming. Jason patted and massaged her shoulders as her body began to seize up. "The windows…" Reyna murmured as she coughed uncontrollably over the smoke which was wafting through the small door crack underneath the door.

Leo and Jason hurried to the wooden, boarded windows and tried to dangle the wooden boards but it was sealed tightly to the frame of the windows. "Bashed our way out of here?" He said with a maniacal grin which made him looked insane. Or as insane as a person could look while coughing over smoke and having tendrils of poisonous, vehement mist spirals around your body.

"The house is already on fire," Piper pointed out but it came out muffled because she covered her nose and mouth with her olive loose t-shirt. Piper's only thought was how crazy could Killer get on the lengths to scare them or…kill them? No…don't answer that.

She found the hammer lying right next to the chest, hobbled her way to it while pressing the blackened cloth to her nose firmly until she could barely feel the air rushing into her lungs like it always did. She handed the hammer over to Leo and Leo gave Jason the briefcase to take while he did what Leo does best. Smashing stuff.

"Hurry," Reyna coughed and hacked painfully as she began to fell on the ground, Piper's head begin to felt faint and her lungs bursting for air as Jason helped Leo lift the briefcase and hammer and then throw it onto the boarded window.

Gusts of fresh air barricaded through the jagged pieces created by the hammer, "Oh god," Jason let out a loud sharp intake of wind before all their eyes traveled downwards where the sweet ground was. And it was about thirty feet from the ground.

"It's not possible you brought a rope with you?" Piper said subconsciously.

"Er…no?"

"Great," Reyna, Piper and Jason all said in unison and the five looked back at the far corners of the room and the front door was being consumed by orange, yellow tipped scorching flames. _Shit, _panic fueled Piper as she clutched the frames of the windows.

Annabeth scanned the sills and ledges curved around the frames, "I climbed down something like this before," The coldness and emptiness in her grey eyes dulled even more and Piper got a feeling this remind her of a particular memory about Percy. Annabeth swung one of her legs over and there were defiant shouts of 'Are-you-crazy?' when Annabeth swung her other leg and did a fast, steady turn so she could climbed down properly.

"I'll scale it down first and you guys can follow my lead once I figure out whether it is safe," Annabeth shouted through the volume of the ravenous fire tried to burn through the metal door.

"And when will that happen?" Piper shouted desperately as she saw one of her best friends hanging onto dear life with her slender, strong fingers onto the edge of the windows as she find her balance on the small space by the ledge of another window which belongs to the rooms downstairs.

"When I say it will," Annabeth gritted her teeth as she squat down to lower herself to the sill of a window one case of stair below, she tried to maintain balance by placing one foot after another but her right foot slipped off the brick sill and both her legs were in the air.

"Oh my god!" Three girls gasped. Two in shock and one in pure fear she might dropped to her death or at least a very painful fall. Her fingers were still gripping the windows, but even more tightly than before.

"I'll go down there," Jason said firmly, "And help you get back on your feet," Normally, girls would've be jealous their boyfriend was going to be Prince Charming and save another girl but Piper wasn't jealous. She was in awe that Jason was kind and humble enough to spare his life to help out a friend.

And Annabeth isn't a girl who goes round stealing boyfriends, Piper trusted her enough to know so.

Jason swung his legs over the window and lower himself step by step in the same ways Annabeth attempted before she slipped her footing. "I can't hold much longer," The blonde girl puffed breathlessly as she curled her legs to try to regain her balance once more only to slipped again with a frighten cry.

"Hold on," Jason shouted to Annabeth as Piper's heart hung at the very edge of her soul as her boyfriend- is it her boyfriend?- lower himself and jumped onto the lower sill of the window smoothly.

"C'mon," Reyna flicked her eyes behind her shoulders and they widened in alarm. "We need to keep on moving, Jason and fast!" The house was nearly on the verge of collapsing. Leo and the two girls could feel the back of the house burned to cinders.

Jason dropped onto the ground with full success and helped guide Annabeth's wandering feet to the proper edges and curves to the window, supported her weigh as she climbed down slowly.

Sooner or later, each and every one of them begins to descend down the hard way by using the ledges and small spaces on the windows and Piper was the last. She could feel the heat hungry to roast her flesh into pieces which was no doubt what Killer had wished for on a daily basis.

It was one of the toughest scaled down the wall she had ever down. One, there was no rope so she prayed her fingers won't give up from clenching too tight, two the ledges and curves weren't steep but here weren't much space for you to gripped upon and three, the height made her limbs numbed to the core. She wasn't unfit but she was swearing to God, if she ever got out of this unscathed she would get a healthier exercising regime and work harder on getting fit and physical.

Her limbs were screaming as she used her upper body strength to lower herself down slowly and carefully. As she got to the bottom ledge, she was beginning to think this wasn't so bad and in a few precious moments she felt Jason's strong arms wrapped around her torso to guide her down.

They ran to Jason's SUV without a second thought after that tough climb down the Browns' mansion, their run was as slow as a fat man's walk. The house exploded, smoke and the metallic, pungent scent of oil and gasoline doused upon them as they protect themselves behind the car.

It took a while for the flames to calm down and all the remains of the Browns' mansion were…perished to ashes. Broken, crumbling pieces fell onto the grounds with small bursts of orange flames. "Wow," Piper croaked.

"That was…" Leo whispered and then his grin appeared onto his face. "Awesome."

"He finally lost his marbles," Jason muttered, only close enough for Piper and Annabeth to catch which cause Piper to snigger despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Guys," Reyna's terrified voice broke in. She was standing stock-still where they were when they were hiding from the explosion of fire, her eyes hardened with toughness. "You need to see this,"

They all hurried over to Reyna and Piper's limbs turned solid again as it once did when she looked down on how far off the ground when she did that climb. They all read their message simultaneously; all in petrified voices- even Leo.

In blood red words, Killer's message was clear:

**It's not that easy to escape me, my lovelies. **

**-Killer **

"Paint?" Jason offered as Reyna dared to daub her trembling finger into the dripping red liquid. She sniffed it and she smeared it off quickly with a horrified little sound coming from her mouth once she identified the smell of the blood red water.

"Blood."

* * *

"We're in L.A," Bianca commented as Jason let out another exasperated exhaled as he took a left turn to Airport Boulevard, Los Angeles.

"Obviously," Jason said blatantly in a flat voice as Reyna resisted the urge to snigger along with Leo and Piper, Annabeth remained muted for the entire word; not saying a word for the entire day ride.

Reyna had finished off with her math worksheets, Russian Great Purge historical essay, English Great Gatsby book report and economic charts on the latest update on the American market for his social studies. He was reading through the script Piper has finished typing up all of last night so she spend most of the trip nestled in the front seat right next to Jason.

They stopped by the Kayak motel which was only a mile away from the airport and cost enough for them to pay. Jason helped with the baggage but most of the camera technology remained in the car and hidden by a sheet of blanket at the boot of Jason's van.

L.A's 'autumn' was as chilly as spring in Arizona; warm and murky with a small breeze coming from the West Coast once in a while but it was a nice change from the rainy and damp atmosphere in Connecticut. He was rooming with Connor Stoll, one of the actors in the project. He dumped most of his bags onto the floor on his side of the room as Connor sighed and lie on his bed, his eyes glassy.

Jason remembered him as one of the boys who declared prank war on Bobby back in ninth grade and now the life seemed to be sucked out of him due the death of his brother, Travis.

Hatred for this Killer person grew even more when he saw the saddened state of these _people- _his classmates, who does that? What kind of monster does that? He patted the compact handgun in his pocket just to be sure it was still there, he needed that to keep himself and other people around him safe.

He was even more cautious ever since the fire had break out at the Browns' Manor. His phone beeped and he nearly jumped a good five feet before flicking his phone on and nearly letting a smile out when he saw Piper's message:

**Meeting Rey's room, bring docs on Thalia and her latest whereabouts. **

He quickly shoved the folders and papers he photocopied from Thalia's desks. She had hidden them in a cabinet under lock and key, he figured it must value some worth so he photocopied everything without going through it considering the large amount of junk he had to read if he wanted to.

He was guilty, stealing all her sister's items to find out what's going on with her but Thalia had more skeletons in her closet than all of them. It was like back in middle school when she was being all secretive and moody about him being in her room and tagging along her social events. He always thought it was because she was going through her girly 'becoming-a-woman' thing but it turn out to be much more than that.

He knocked on Reyna's room and a muffled voice asked, "Yes?"

"It's Jason,"

The lock clicked and the door creaked open a wee bit for Annabeth to stick her head out. "It's you,"

"You didn't trust me?"

"I had to be sure," She responded simply. Maybe it was Jason's imagination but Annabeth seemed to be fading off…her grey eyes no longer had that warrior glint in them, her hair was even messier and less organized each time he seen her and her skin was pasty with no concealing underneath the dark rings under her eyes. "Come in,"

The hotel room Annabeth and Reyna was decorated in colors deemed to be relaxing and peaceful with bursts of flat grey, bland white and dull sallow yellow mixed with dots of green. Piper was sitting on Reyna's single bed, looking more energized than she did in the car and her long hair wrapped in a top knot.

Leo was sitting on the desk with the briefcase in front of him and he was working on cracking the code on the lock of the briefcase as he had been doing for the past few days. "Damn it, this girl can put up a fight," Leo gritted his teeth.

"Take a break," Reyna's stressed voice float from the bathroom door as she stepped out of the bathroom with wet hair and a change of fresh clothes. She wore a movie T-shirt with a picture of a guy in full Roman armor and a bold title stamped onto the top which reads: **Gladiator **and a pair of faded dark jeans.

"Conference time," She announced as she stood in the middle and everyone looked up to her, Reyna command authority naturally as a Queen. Even Leo was paying full attention or maybe he was just admiring her, it was hard to tell.

"How is it with the briefcase?" She asked Leo sharply, who grinned and did a salute with a big, suggestive wink she rolled her eyes at.

"I'm starting get a clear four number sequence; zeroes, threes, eights and nines." He entered in another pattern and a loud beep with a large creak squeaking from the lock. "I broke it!"

"Leo, I love you!" Piper squealed as they all ran towards the desk where the briefcase has finally propped open. "Not in that way," She said hastily when she saw Jason's face.

"Holy shit," He whistled along with Leo when they saw the collection of…things in her bag.

There were racks of ammo at the back of a black flap; grenades were strapped to the wall of the surprisingly spacious briefcase, knives lined neatly together and compact handguns hanging loosely on tiny hooks by their triggers, papers scattered all over the compartments with fragments of important details, small packets of hundred dollar cash and last for not least a lock gun nearly similar to the one Leo had in his bag pack.

"This chick has enough things to supply half of the US army," Leo's fingers stroked the weapons and took out one of the snipers to check it out.

"Where did she get all the money?" Reyna gasped, she took a wad of European bills and fan through it.

She placed the bills back and took out the files. Pictures of distorted images fell out onto the bed, Reyna picked them up and Annabeth and Piper gathered behind her to see the images.

There was one with a young girl with dark hair and dark eyes standing at the corner, chatting on the phone in an arcane manner. It was Bianca Di Angelo and there were Zoe Nightshade, Clarisse La Rue, Rachel Dare, Thalia Grace, Miranda Gardiner and, last for not least unclear pictures of Reyna, Piper and Annabeth.

Notes of Jennifer's cursive, nearly unreadable writing scribbled on crumpled papers- small fragments of **search more **and **hiding something **were always seen.

"Look," Jennifer's list of suspects," Piper announced urgently immediately, holding up a piece of paper and reading aloud as everyone listened intently. "Bianca Di Angelo,"

"Bianca is part of the psycho team?" Leo's tone was astounded and Jason nodded slowly.

"Yes, I thought we covered that,"

"Oh…"

"Wow, Leo, wow."

"Next is …Clarisse La Rue."

"What does Clarisse have against Jennifer?" Annabeth frowned at the crumpled paper, "I mean, Clarisse was Jennifer's right hand man in all her schemes…"

"I also like to know how to cure cancer but considering with have the idea of a flea of what's going on we just have to follow our only trail," Reyna responded briskly and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Guys," Piper said tiredly.

"Sorry," Both replied at the same time.

"Er…Tammie Vega,"

"Got that one right," Jason muttered and Piper ignored him.

"Katie Gardiner,"

_Dead,_ the silent and mournful thought ran clearly out in everybody's head in remembrance of the Songbird Academy shooting. Jason personally thought it was unfair for Jennifer to pegged Katie as an enemy when she had been a victim all along.

"Lou Ellen, Thalia Grace," Hearing her sister's name on that list shattered Jason's heart all over again. It was like a big stab to his heart that his sister was quite keen on hurting people he cared about; he thought he knew her but obviously he didn't.

"Travis Stoll, Luke Castellan, Annabeth Chase, Reyna White and Piper Mclean," Piper whispered in horror. "She suspected us? I thought we were her friends."

"'You can never really trust no one.'" Reyna sighed one of Jennifer's well-said quotes bitterly.

Three knew just days before Jennifer when AWOL, Jennifer was hiding secrets. When they walk into her room without knocking, she snapped at them rudely- even little Piper, she tend to be 'out of the house' and doing other activities without them and ditching them to do God knows what. At first, they all were scared Jennifer was going to ditch them. That they'll end up like Tammie Vega and Kara Andrews and go back to being nobodies or worse, Jennifer's victims. But now everything was starting to make sense.

"She had a reason for not trusting us or suspecting us," Annabeth commented sombrely, eyes fixed impassively on the sheet of paper Piper was clutching. "We were her best friend, we were there with her all the time and so is Killer…:"

"Why am I on the suspect list?" Jason asked subconsciously as he read off the paper. He found his name at the bottom of the badly written list, and his name was underline majorly with the pink sparkly pen.

"Wait, what?!" Piper squeaked, diving for list to check it again. "But I thought you were living in Connecticut with your mom-!"

"I was," Jason said coldly, he didn't get it- was Jennifer ever part of his childhood? His childhood wasn't the best time of his life, no it was pretty shitty. When he was around twelve to thirteen, he was stuck in a snooty boarding school far away from America but didn't Piper once mention Jennifer had live in Connecticut before moving to Rosemont.

"Look," Leo's tone of voice sounded strictly serious. "I found a note from Killer addressed to Jennifer,"

He spread it out on the duvet covers for the others to read and written in a black untidy scrawl which was prominently familiar to Reyna but she couldn't put a finger on it.

**You've been a naughty, cruel girl and I'm going to teach you a lesson. There is coldness in your heart, you take joy in making people's lives miserable, you feed upon the weakness of those lower than you and you have friends and followers who admire you except me. I'm supposed to be the bad guy; I am Killer but don't fret you're just as bad as I am. **

**And I'm going to make sure you'll never live to breathe ever again. What goes around comes back around, honey. **

**-Killer**

"This is personal," Reyna inhaled sharply as if she just found gold. "This gives us a clear lead…Killer has to be one of the people Jennifer had bullied! This is golden!" She sounded slightly hysterical on the last bit but at least they manage to find some sort of lead.

"Great now that leaves us with a few thousands to get through," Piper commented drily, not sharing Reyna's enthusiasm.

"No, Reyna's right- it's our only breakthrough so far," Annabeth argued and Jason had enough of this dissertation, it was time they go meet up with the contact killer hire to off Jennifer. He had been tracking down the initials 'A.P' around Los Angeles and apparently he found the perfect match, it belonged to an Armenian-Latino gang around the harsh areas of L.A and it was also one of the gangs that did paid assassination.

"We should be getting ready," Jason interrupted immediately, checking the time on his watch. "Dress up to go to the party,"

"What party?" Leo perked up instantly at the mention of the word.

"The gang one- it's time we meet the person who killed your best friend."

* * *

It was Bianca's first solo mission and it was simple enough. Follow Piper, Reyna, Annabeth, Jason and Leo and report back; her employer expected no less. Her employer was also hard to please, difficult and dangerous not to mention highly intimidating, intelligent and beautiful; a scrupulous package but the employer paid her dues well; give or take a few hundred thousand.

Bianca had no idea who her employer is, only seem to go by the name 'Master' or 'Killer' only the fact that she was a teenage girl. The money was heaps and sometimes Bianca thought her employer had robbed a bank; it wouldn't be far from the truth.

First and foremost, she had no intentions on being a puppet or servant for Killer. She had to. She wasn't pissed at Annabeth or Reyna or Piper as technically they never did anything to harm her or he beloved little bother, Nico. Maybe she was angry at the fact that they never do anything to stop Jennifer but they have their reasons- they were afraid to. Which was understandable, Jennifer is a very scary person. And she may have a few squabbles with Jennifer, but she didn't really hate Jennifer after Jennifer protected her brother from gangs and drug dealings so Bianca owed Jennifer big time.

But then Jennifer got murdered, no doubt this 'Killer' employer had Jennifer's blood on her hands. Bianca never really got a chance to say sorry or thank you.

The million dollar question was why was Bianca doing all of this?

Her brother; Killer found her and her weak spot- making and bullying her into doing horrendous acts. Annabeth might be her friend but her brother came first no matter what and she was sure Killer had no hesitations on hurting Nico and she will never let that happen. You saw what happen to Drew and the shooting, would Killer spare Nico?

Oh look, she made a joke.

She crept out of her room and into the narrow, carpeted aisle of the crappy motel the school budget offered them and saw Piper came out of Reyna's dorm, dressed up as dress up as you can get for a trashy gang party. She knew Piper had a history of marijuana, stealing, drunk-driving and drugs before she came to the Academy and the reason why she was at the Academy was probably for all those reasons and to straighten out. So Piper's field of experience would emit around these areas. She hoped God would be able to forgive her.

Annabeth's blonde hair whipped around the corner as Bianca hid behind a large section of wall where Jason was leaning against, she could see the bulge of a handgun at his jeans. She had to be extra careful now, Jason wasn't the only one armed in the motel. She tapped on the compact Glock gun given to her by her employer 'just in case'; she wasn't planning on hurting anyone deliberately.

Reyna and Leo stepped out of the room and secure it with the motel key. "Let's go," Reyna ordered and they marched out of the hallway, unaware of a dark haired girl dressed in a leather jacket and black jeans marking them a few yards away.

"Please forgive me," Bianca muttered to herself before plunging in before them.

* * *

**I'm alive and extremely annoyed. What happen to my readers? Did they all die? 0.o I know some of you are still reading but only 0.000000000005 % decided to review and tell me whether they like it. However, the reason why my updates is slow is because of A) lack of motivation form you guys and B) My life is crazy and driving me nuts**

**I could basically summarize my life in these few categories: School work, Merlin, School work, school work and school work. Who's genius idea was it to write a book, achieve high scores, master two instruments and write two fanfics at the same time? Oh wait, me. **

**I know I'm awesome but not that awesome. I also had been watching all five seasons of Merlin, I'm addicted and can you blame me for Arthur and Merlin's pure cuteness? I was sobbing at the last episode- it was just...NO! That cannot HAPPEN! How can he just-?! Gah, I hate you for all these feels. **

**Back on track: What shit has happen so far? Sorry for the swearing, I have not been in a good mood with the amount of schoolwork and Merlin deprivation I had been suffering. Sometimes, it feels like you guys don't even CARE! **

**However, Jennifer's killer (literally) is about to surface and I'm gonna blow you out of the water of who it is next chapter *cue evil grin*, the deal with Reyna's adopted dad- he did hire the guy to kill Jennifer but WHY? You'll find out around the Christmas episode? Ooh, is Bianca's loyalties wavering? We might have an ally now. And we're getting closer than ever to Killer, your lack of appreciation of major clues I'm giving you on who the hell is Killer is upsetting. **

**Next: We'll find out about Reyna's dad, Jennifer's "murder" considering in the first series she was actually Gina and Killer finish the job and links of Jennifer and Reyna's blood relation. Also beware that tests and mid-terms are dawning on me so updating will be unclear. **

**Wink, **

**-Savvy. **


	21. Wanted Dead or Alive

**So...I'm back. **

**Songs: Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi **

**Sweet Serial Killer by Lana Del Ray**

Chapter 21

Wanted Dead or Alive

Annabeth was not comfortable dressed like this.

Short tight skirts, small tiny tank tops, large chunks of jewellery enough to set JFK airport into a raging, false alarm due to the amount of metal that set off the security detectors and high heels with heels taller than a 90 degrees angle was not Annabeth's "style".

The Delta Crew-Butterfly Crush- or whatever the hell they were called would like to point out Annabeth did not had a style. Not that Annabeth disagreed (or to be honest, couldn't care less), but it was a half-truth. Annabeth would give anything to bury herself into a mountain of comfortable hoodies, snack on unhealthy junk food and watch bad television.

Wow, she had been that pathetic all those months?

Life is like a half glass full without Percy. Now she was done grieving, she was morally guilty for what she did to him before he died.

Stringing Luke along to get back at Percy for dating Rachel, playing some sort of game that hints she wants him back but without grovelling and begging for him to come back and fighting front to front in the Cold War of Split-Town was not the ideal "last-moments-together-because-you're-gonna-die" moments.

"C'mon," Jason touched Annabeth's bare bicep to gesture that it was time to step out of the van.

The dark, straight wig was scratching Annabeth's scalp uneasily when she leaped out of the van. Leo tossed Jason's the car keys-Jason must be half-drunk to allow Leo to drive- and they set out for the club.

"Home sweet home," Piper muttered sarcastically besides her. "Welcome to the strings of a typical night in Hollywood, where nothing is real."

The Cherokee stiffened body posture was a dead giveaway that she was having flashbacks as they strode over to Sunset Boulevard, donned in short, shimmery outfits.

The club's line was long.

Annabeth wanted to run back to the crappy, shit motel they were staying in when she saw the line. God, did people in L.A wait in lines for hours just so they could get a quick martini and a hopeless wish of getting a possible shot with some no-name director and a TV show with obnoxiously stereotypical characters and bad plotlines?

"F**k," She heard Piper swore violently.

"Great," Reyna sighed, twisting around the wavy stray strand of hair. "I swear if the wait doesn't kill me these shoes will,"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Don't be melodramatic. It can't be that bad." Reyna's furious glares told him wisely not to say anything else.

"Have any of you heard of a back door?" Jason suggested with a mere hint of a blatant _duh _in his voice.

"These shoes aren't exactly meant for climbing in and out of the dumpster," Piper shot vindictively at him. The Cherokee looked slightly broken, partly because she spend some time in jail with friendly roommates and nearly got herself cremated in a fire but those multicolour eyes flashed a defiant green.

"So?" Regina's eyes steeled with determination. "I'll spend the night roasting in garbage if it meant to kill that son of a bitch."

"Whoa, chill," Leo's role of a peacemaker wasn't effective but it got them to shut up. _Finally, _Annabeth contemplated irately as she adjusted her wig onto her head into a proper position.

They walked-trotted in the girls' case- around the corner to the back of the street where they saw a black leather clad waitress grumbling about a bad pay check as she dumped the black trash bags into the bins and ambled back in.

"Bingo," Annabeth murmured. They crept surreptitiously past the fences which Leo broke through with some pliers and to the steel door which the waitress had slammed shut.

Breaking in was the easiest part.

Blending in with the employees after coming through the back door inconspicuously was no cake.

Annabeth herself was donned in a strappy silver thin foil of a dress with god-knows-how-high heels and shiny, silvery earrings Piper 'borrowed' from the cheap jewellery store next to the motel while Regina wore a purple cocktail strapless dress with a plunging curve neckline with ankle boots and killer bangles and Piper in a sultry, apple red dress with a complex neckline and black pumps.

Very unpronounced, right?

"You two might as well where a sign: I just snuck in here," Jason muttered while Regina ushered them over to a store room before any of the workers noticed them or worse, kicked them out.

The store room had a nauseating smell with an uncanny resemblance to soil and dirt. Annabeth searched the unfamiliar grounds for an idea to pass through without raising any heads when she saw a coat hanger of white chef uniforms and the light bulb went up in her brain.

"Guys," She called out from their bickering as she handed them each uniform. "Shut up and get this operation sorted, can we?"

"Of course," Reyna smacked her forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Annabeth smiled surreptitiously but her attention reverted back to buttoning the white cook outfit and shoving the silver earrings into the pockets roughly. Once everyone had looked their parts, Piper opened the door wide and they sneaked out stealthily.

The kitchen was so crowded with the employees bustling around, some were chopping up chives and onions, some were flipping up a steak and some were yelling at the poor little interns for accidentally setting something on fire. Nobody noticed them.

Annabeth smirked. She really couldn't have thought of a better plan.

Once they made it out of the kitchens, they ditched the chef uniforms by chucking it behind a potted plant and hoped no one noticed.

Annabeth pulled a few bobby pins from her long blonde hair and re-applied the earrings, smoothing down the ridiculously short micro-mini silvery dress.

"So how are we going to find this guy?" Piper asked determinedly.

Leo abstracted a miniature device technological device that looks like a GPS navigator but with extra wires spiralling out. "You know that number you guys copied down from those files Reyna stole from her dad's office- the one about Jennifer's murder?"

They nodded in unison, able to comprehend the God-Almighty stack of papers Reyna forced them to sort through (how could they ever forget?).

"Well I sort of downloaded the national telephone system and hacked into it so as long as the guy's phone stays on we can fight him."

"Nice," Reyna conceded, approved with a brisk nod.

Annabeth was impressed. Despite Leo's sometimes insane and imprudent behaviour and rowdy antics, he was smart.

"So do we just go around waving this in front of people's face?" -came Jason's brilliant question.

"No, it'll be in my pocket and it'll start beeping like crazy once we get our guy."

It took a while to get through dense crowds of greasy dancers spiralling around, drunk on their asses when they got a big beep. "Jackpot," Reyna breathed, Annabeth could smell the endorphins and adrenaline pumping through Reyna veins.

As they closed onto the bar the navigator got wilder until it flared up when it was in front of…

"_Kadden?" _

Kadden Brown, Jennifer's older (and shamelessly sexier) brother, whirled around to see who called at him and eyes widened when his lecherous eyes fixed upon the three girls in very short dresses were behold upon him.

"Do I know you?" His words came out in a slight drawly slur. _Perfect, _Annabeth thought dejectedly at the same time she contemplated, _why did the navigator go off crazy near Kadden? Could he be the killer? _That was just…ludicrous.

"Uh it's Katie," Annabeth lied, suddenly remembering she was incognito. "Katie Leonard from Rosemount," She remembered the brunette they saw in Kadden's room a few years ago during their first sleepover when they (Jennifer) declared they were bored, sneaked into Kadden's room and got perpetually scarred for life. "These are my friends," She gestured to Reyna and Piper who were praying hard he doesn't recognize them.

"I remember you." He smiled at her and she breathed normally. _He bought it. _"Annabeth, isn't it?"

Suddenly sobriety seems to seep into his system and he smirked when shock plastered their faces. "How did you know?" Reyna surrendered.

"Honey you were as subtle as SpongeBob when you stashed those uniforms," Kadden chuckled, seated on a stool and wasting away on whiskey. Reyna clenched her jaw together, not pleased about the "SpongeBob" reference. "And that warrior Queen face of yours is easy to stall in my memory."

"This is him." Leo flashed out the navigator and it vibrated erratically before Leo pushed a red button and it paused.

"Would you like to tell us your involvement with your sister's death?" Annabeth asked astutely, eyes flashing so severely Kadden gulped.

"You mean Jennifer?" Kadden laughed humourlessly, swallowing the rest of the whiskey like it was water. "You think I kill her? Please."

"Some say otherwise." Reyna dropped the crumpled file stashed into her large Kate Spade purse onto the counter in front of Kadden. He stared at it and his fingers caressed the written letters of an assassination being conceded to the big bag guys. "Confess or it goes to the police." The incandescent fire in her eyes almost made her as superior as her mother was in the court.

"Jesus, Reyna. And I thought you were different from Hylla," He huffed insufferably. "Loosen up the corsets and take a drink, sweet heart."

Reyna's bitch-face morphed into an identical of Jennifer's out-for-the-kill contemptuous glare which sends shudders down Kadden's spine.

"Talk," Jason's hard blue eyes bore into Kadden's golden hues of orbs.

"Fine," A wicked smirk curled expectantly by Kadden's lips and he drew out a long, exaggerate sigh and hung his head up condescendingly like Jennifer always did when she was up for a good game of let's-torture-a-harmless-victim. "Let's go to one of the booths where is all nice and quiet."

Annabeth saw Jason's hands inching for the compact Winchester handgun and her insides froze up, preparing to duck in case of gunfire. "Okay," Piper agreed determinedly.

They followed Kadden's lea to the plush, faux red-velvet booth with obsidian black marbled table.

"Drinks?" A woman clad in leather wore fewer clothes than prostitutes on a field day asked huffily. Not that she was being rude, more like rushed because of the long day.

"Scotch will do," Kadden smacked the American fifty dollar bill on the table and winked at the waitress who rolled her eyes because it was probably the filthiest guy in the pub who did that. "Anybody?"

"An apple martini," Piper said modestly, not meeting their raised eyebrows.

"A vodka shot." Annabeth mumbled, out of the blue. She wanted to forget this night and discard the empty feeling of grief and misery she felt. It's like a bullet wound shot from Killer's Caliber armed ammunition but worse. She didn't bleed nor die; she was left to live.

"Coffee, black," Reyna shot disapproving glares at around the table when Leo and Jason ordered beers. "We're minors." She hissed when the waitress was gone.

"We're at a bar," Leo said competently, as if that solved everything.

"Amen." Jason agreed.

"Back to business, shall we?" Annabeth drove the conversation back as she steeled herself to grill information out of Kadden. "So start."

Kadden laced his fingers and embedded his penetrating, intense gold gaze into Annabeth's startling grey ones before opening his mouth to speak.

* * *

_4 years ago_

"So are you sure your dad doesn't know?" Reyna asked worriedly, eyeing the bottle of whiskey like it was trouble.

Jennifer kicked off the silver sandals encompassing her delicate feet and poured a great amount into her mouth. "I'm bored not stupid." Jennifer snorted with a roll of her eyes as settle down onto the psychedelic nest of sleeping bags. "Take a swig, Pipes, it's not going to hurt you."

Piper took an uneasy gulp before passing it to Annabeth who drank a swift round before giving it to Reyna. Her fingers tapped against the glass bottle. "Oh don't be such a prude, White; I thought you weren't scared of anything." Jennifer mocked in her baby voice.

"I'm not." Reyna snapped and chugged down the intoxicating, fiery liquid into her throat. It seared down, a scorching hot flame bubbled up in her stomach and made her dizzy.

"See now that wasn't so hard wasn't it?" Jennifer lie onto Piper's denim cladded lap and played with Piper's choppy, disgruntled locks. She lit up a smoke and pressed it onto her lips with flagrant disregard to the overwhelming capability of the sleeping bags catching on fire. "Want a joint?" She asked seductively to Piper who down casted her eyes to avoid looking in Jennifer's inebriated, hypnotizing green eyes.

"N-no thanks," Reyna pursed her lips at Piper's weak stammer. Jennifer was enjoying her manicured red claws sinking into Piper's sensitive shields into manipulating her to doing almost anything. The girl needed a backbone.

"Jennifer, no smoking," Annabeth scolded.

"Jesus, what are you- my mom?" Jennifer grumbled but did as she was told and stomped the joint into ashes.

_Thump! Thump!_

"What was that?" Reyna sat up so fast it was like she been electrified.

"Probably Kadden and his stupid drunk bastards he calls his friends. Presumptuous assholes," Jennifer complained, perching up from her lazy position and slipping on the silver sandals. "I'll go give them a piece of my mind and you guys don't move." The fearful glint in her eyes was more than an order; it was a warning. Reyna didn't understand what it was.

They saw Jennifer left without an argument, knowing it'll be futile to go up against her when she's like this. "It's probably Kadden, right?" Piper asked, balking on her ideas.

"Probably," Annabeth shrugged, trying to come off as flippant as she dug into the warm covers of her blue sleeping bag.

Meanwhile, the girls are sheltered safely under their duvets Jennifer saw her brother roaming the dark woods just behind Annabeth's barn with an armed weapon. "Jackass," was her only response.

"So are you going to kill me?" Jennifer asked as casually as she could, scaring him out of his wits. _If he had any, _Jennifer thought meanly.

"Jenny."

"Will you stop it with that stupid nickname?"

"As bitchy as always,"

"Dead or alive, sweet cheeks," Jennifer played up the witty banter to a full height before she thought it was time to business.

"Dad told me the truth and he told me I have to kill or not he'll disown me but I don't want to kill you." Kadden looked her in the eyes and she could see there were true emotions in there. All those memories of changing the diaper and taking her out to the park, arguing about the TV remote and complaining about each other non-stop. Ah, good times. Too bad her dad and a psycho-killing bitch wanted her dead for all the mistakes she did. The world was as unforgiving as always.

"And we both know that you are not balls enough to do any one of them," Jennifer smirked.

"I'm trying to help you here."

"Whatever, look Dad wants me gone and he ask you to wipe the slate clean but you don't want to because you get too emotional to pull that trigger and besides I look better alive than dead. Lucky for you, I got a backup plan."

"Did you hear what I say? Dad wants you-"

"Dead, I heard you the first time. Look, there's a bag stashed under all my clothes in my laundry hamper- it has everything I need to disappear. Money, fake ID- everything and I'll run off to somewhere safe. Take it for me and meet me at the Kissing Rock then you're going to go back and say it's done. I'm dead, Jennifer Brown is dead. Understand me?"

"But-"

"No buts just go!" Jennifer nearly screamed, sounding hysterical and desperate. Kadden gaze into her again and saw she wasn't only running from her amazingly screwed up family but she was running from something else…worse.

"Okay- Kissing Rock, right?"

"Yes, you dumbass! Now go!"

Jennifer wheezed uncontrollably as her brother took off to their house to grab the duffel bag she has hidden so long just in case and now it was the time. Thank God Kadden had gone off before Killer came or not things would be bloody. She unfastened the strap and wielded out a large, silver kitchen knife she bought at the DIY store two months ago. It's time to meet and kill the bitch before disappearing off into a place where she'll never be heard again.

She strolled down Satan's Steps to Little Hell's stream as her and the clique nicknamed it. Little flashbacks of time they had sneaked down there after their parents had all gone to bed to chat and meet up. She'll missed curling up the little layered brown locks that Piper had, arguing with unbridled restrain with Reyna and debate with every, logical idea Annabeth comes up with. Secretly, all of them loved a challenge. Reyna liked being on top of all leadership status and conquer every school political hierarchy known to man, Annabeth liked being the best with her scores and on top academic pyramid and Piper….as much as she hate to admit it, liked being pretty and known and well, the new Jennifer.

"You're here," The misty breaths taken by the enemy stalking her most vivid nightmare was finally here. "You kept your promise."

"I'm a bitch but it doesn't mean I'm double crossing whore," Jennifer answered bravely, turning around to meet the masked monster.

A ski mask protected the face, revealing faked blue eyes showing through those holes. Killer would've been too paranoid to reveal her true eyes and every string of hair was kept back in a black, stretchy swim cap. A silver gun glimmered dimly in the dark. She swallowed fearfully.

"Jennifer?"

Piper's concerned tone rang throughout the dead woods.

_Shit. _

"You said you come alone!" Killer exclaimed furiously. Yep, that was definitely a girl…and highly familiar, Jennifer realized.

"I did but those nitwits came looking for me." Jennifer said sheepishly. "I'll send them back, I promise."

"How will I know you won't run off and hide your ass?"

"I promise, God-honours…whatever the hell they call it." Jennifer said earnestly.

"Business first," Killer licked her pink lips and pointed the gun at Jennifer's heart. "Besides it'll be much better with an audience to see the great and _beautiful _Jennifer Brown die and what better audience would it be than your precious friends?"

_Vengeful son of a bitch, _she swore inside her head. "Please leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this."

Killer's malevolent laugh scared the freakin' crap out of her. "How the mighty have fallen, Jennifer Brown begging for mercy to _me," _Killer said gleefully. "Your suffering is every bit of worth to me, Jenny Darling. And your little godforsaken friends have everything do with this. They stand there like stupid, dumb little soldiers and watch you torture me every day without a care. They're _weak, _pathetic, little roots I will cut off as how I will cut you off."

"Oh and you hiding in the shadows, plotting your petty revenge on a bunch of seven graders is any better?" Jennifer laughed, not insane like Killer's but more snide and catty. "Jesus, you have major issues. I'm a bitch but I know how to grow up and take it like a man. At least I stop stringing boyfriends along and just sit in my fat load of bullshit my family cooked up that I have to deal with. My dad is so majorly screwed in the head; he'll hunt down his own daughter because of one dirty little secret. So boo-hoo and take your bullying sob story to the online services because I honestly don't give a damn, you presumptuous, smug evil bitch."

Jennifer threw the knife gracefully to Killer's foot and stabbed into the big toe, severing it from the feet messily. Killer's scream of pain and collapse had brought her some time to run off and bring those stupid girls she had for friends into safety.

"This is not funny, Jen!" Reyna cried out angrily, frustrated.

"Enough is enough," Annabeth said motherly.

"Come out, Jennifer," Piper's heartbroken words nearly tore Jennifer's heart into half as she tied the broken long leaf branch she tore from the nearest tree she could find.

Knotting it to a tight root to another by the rocks, she hid deep into the cave created by the large cliffs at Satan's Steps as the three of them began to climb down in search for her.

"Jennifer?"

"Where the hell are you?"

"I swear to God if you're playing this as some sort of joke I'll fillet your ass!"

"Come on," Piper led the way down, their feet inching to the near-invisible string before they stepped over it clumsily and knocked their heads on the sharp cliffs. They'll forget her or at least for a while which is good for their sakes; they didn't need to know about her or Killer.

Blood dribbled out of their heads as Jennifer kneeled down over to their foreheads and kissed them softly. "It's for the best." And she jogged to the Kissing Rock where her brother stood impatiently in the cold for her to return with a large red duffel bag, stashed with large amount of dollar bills.

"Finally, I thought you were a no-show."

"You know me better than that," teased Jennifer but her heart wasn't really into it as she had just stabbed Killer in the foot, practically ganked her friends memories for their whole middle school lives and was about to evaporate into thin air, hoping to never be catch out ever again. "I'll catch the soonest Greyhound and we'll keep in contact," Jennifer promised before hesitantly wrapping her adoptive brother into a well-meaning hug.

"Take care," Kadden whispered sorrowfully into her dark hair.

She smiled as Kadden helped her put on a large green Adidas sweater. "I'm changing my name," She said randomly, fluffing out her hair.

"You'll be…?"

"Gina Bennett." She decided. "Nice ring to it, eh?" Smirking her Mona Lisa, arcane smile, the icy green-eyed beauty was not to be seen in Rosemont ever again.

* * *

**So that's what happen when Jennifer/Gina- ahem- "died", she knocked the girls unconscious to keep them safe from Killer or at least buy them as much time as possible before they got gank, Kadden helped her escaped instead of killing her and betraying Reyna's dad orders who's intentions was to hired a gang Killer aka Kadden to kill Jennifer and when he found out who the victim was he obviously when to his dad for help and to tell him that one of his best friends want to kill his daughter as any sane guy would do. The dad instead of going to the police encourage Kadden to kill Jennifer. Jennifer obviously know this already and knew that Kadden secretly love her (as a sister) too much to do so. At the same time, she arranged to meet with Killer but to "finish her off" before she disappears so her family would never get a hold of her again. As you know that didn't end so well as Killer had a gun and that the three girls (Reyna, Annabeth and Piper) stumbled onto the scene (well nearly) and so Jennifer ran instead of doing unfnished business. Kadden got all her stuff ready and saw her left to the bus station to catch a Greyhound. She decided to also have a sleepover at Annie's house at the same night because she want to spend it with the girls before she takes off. **

**Your mind spinning? **

**Good. **

**Soon you'll find out why Jen's adoptive dad and Reyna's dad wanted her dead and a whole lot of drama and crap thrown in and of course how Killer is brought into this. **

**Jennifer's awesome, right? I love her personality. (Fave quote: Dead or alive, sweet cheeks. Only Jen would joke about how she could be bitchy on ny occasion XD.) She grows on you, somehow. **

**So why I've been gone:**

**MY NOVEL**

**Homework**

**NOVEL**

**NOVEL **

**HOLIDAY! **

**I went to PARIS AND LONDON (I live in Malaysia but I originally came from Cornwall and such) It's so good to be back in England (for a while). Paris was lovely but the people are a bit... mean in there if you don't speak the language. **

**MY NOVEL is going on great! I posted the first chap on Wattpad, the link will be on my profile. Also I've started watching Supernatural.**

**WORST. BLOODY. IDEA. EVER. **

**That show is SO ADDICTIVE! THEY'RE SO BLOODY HOT! SHIT! I'm just like *_* *swoons*. Damn it, you Winchesters are so...I finished 7 seasons in like 3 weeks non-stop and I got into season 8 now but those boys...I love Castiel. He's bloody awesome. As you can see, some of their insults are featured in this chapter. :D**

**PLUS, PLUS- SONGBIRD ACADEMY 1 HAD BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE PERCY JACKSON FANFICTION CHOICE AWARDS! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!**

**PLEASE! I'm so bloody shock I was nominated. At first I got the PM and I'm like what the actual HELL?! This is hotter and bigger than the flames in Purgatory!**

**Anyway enough of me blabbing. REVIEW OR I'LL FIND YOU. **

**Tell me what you think of the explanation of how the girls forgot everything in the first place and Jen's escape and her awesome foot-stabbing Killer move (some of you have been itching to do that, eh?) **


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